Pava

The town in Bihar where Jain tradition places Mahavira's death and final liberation, marked ever since by lamps.

Pava, now Pavapuri, is where Mahavira is said to have died at seventy-two after a night of final teaching. Jain tradition holds that the assembled kings lit lamps because the light of his knowledge had gone out, and the festival of Diwali is understood in Jainism as the anniversary of that night. A white marble temple now sits in the middle of a lotus tank on the site.