The animal that symbolizes the 24th Tirthankara Mahavira is the lion. In Jain iconography, a lion emblem is placed below Mahavira’s image, providing a visual key for identifying him among otherwise similarly portrayed Tirthankaras.
Mahavira, also known as Vardhamana, is the final Tirthankara of the current Jain time cycle. Traditional Jain biographies say he was born into a ruling Kshatriya family, renounced worldly life at about age 30, and practiced severe austerities for twelve and a half years before attaining kevala jnana, or omniscience.
He then taught for roughly 30 years. His teachings emphasize the Five Great Vows: nonviolence, truth, non-stealing, celibacy, and non-attachment. Jain tradition credits him with organizing and strengthening an existing ascetic lineage associated with the earlier Tirthankara Parshvanatha.
A common confusion is between Mahavira’s lion emblem and the lion as a general symbol of royalty or courage. In this context, it is a specific lanchhana. Mahavira’s traditional liberation place is Pawapuri in present-day Bihar, where Jains commemorate his nirvana.