height of all 24 tirthankars
In Jain cosmology, the heights of Tirthankaras are described in symbolic units called dhanush and they vary by the "ara" (time-era) in which they are born. The tradition says heights shrink as we move from earlier to later eras, and in the present era the idols are made to human scale.
- First ara (Suṣamā-suṣamā): about 500 dhanush, roughly 3000 feet.
- Second ara (Suṣamā-duṣamā): about 100 dhanush, roughly 600 feet.
- Third ara (Duṣamā-suṣamā): about 20 dhanush, roughly 120 feet.
In the present era, temple idols are typically human-scale and far smaller than these ancient descriptions. There are textual variations across Jain sources, and exact numbers can differ slightly between authors.