In Jainism, time is not Hindu-style fixed yugas. It’s a never-ending wheel (kalchakra) that has two halves and six eras in each half.

• The wheel has two halves:

- Utsarpiṇī (ascending/progressive half) – conditions gradually improve. - Avasarpiṇī (descending/regressive half) – conditions gradually worsen.

• Each half is split into six eras (arās). So one full cycle has 12 eras in total. After the sixth era of a half-cycle, the wheel reverses to the other half and the pattern repeats. This is the basic Jain model of time. ( jainpedia.org)

What about the current era?

• Most Jain traditions say we are in the Avsarpiṇī half, in its fifth arā (the fifth stage), a period of increasing sorrow and spiritual decline. After the sixth arā, the cycle would turn back to the Utsarpiṇī half and conditions would again begin to rise. Different Digambar/Shvetambar texts may date or describe the exact timings a bit differently, but the six-arā structure and the overall direction (down then up) remain the same. ( jainpedia.org)

If you’d like a compact list of the six arās in the avasarpiṇī half and which phase we’re currently in, you can read more here:

• You can read more here

Note: I’m sticking to Jain sources for this explanation and mentioning where traditions diverge (Digambar vs. Shvetambar) on dating, while keeping the core idea intact.