Jirawala Parshwanath Tirth

Jirawala Tirth is a Jain temple in Jirawala village of Sirohi District in Rajasthan, India. It lies 58 km from Abu Road. During that time the village was known by many names Jiravalli, Jirapalli, Jurikavalli, Jairapalli and many more. Jirawala has been an important Jain centre between 506 CE to 1324 CE. The iconic idol of Parshvanath, the principal deity of the temple, was found during an excavation of that particular region. The cow belonging to Brahmin boy Kadwa used to pour out its milk every day near a cave in Jirawala. Upon hearing about this by Brahmin boy, Jain Seth Dhanna Shah dreamt of a Parshvanath idol where cow went to pour milk. After the search, the idol was found from the same spot and the idol was installed by Acharya Deva Gupta Suri in 894 CE. According to belief, the idol is made up of sand and milk. An idol of Neminatha was temporarily replaced as mulnayak of the temple. In the surrounding of the temple 108 idols of shri Parshvanath were installed.

The current structure of the temple dates back to 1134 AD. There is a temple with an image of Neminatha, too. These temples were attacked and desecrated during Muslim rule but were later renovated by the Jain community. The village was a place of pilgrimage for Jains. Many Jain saints and scholars visited the place and composed the religious books there during the fifteenth century. In Shvetambara tradition, idols tend to derive their name from a geographical region, the Jirawala Parshvanath is one of 108 prominent idols of Parshvanath idols. The temple complex includes Dharamshala and bhojanalya.