Where was the 23rd Tirthankara Parshvanatha born?

The 23rd Tirthankara Parshvanatha was born in Varanasi, traditionally identified with the ancient city of Benares in the Kingdom of Kashi. Jain tradition particularly associates his birthplace with Bhelupur, a neighborhood of modern Varanasi.

Parshvanatha is regarded as the earliest Jain Tirthankara generally accepted by historians as having a historical core, although the surviving biographies also contain religious legends and traditional chronology. Jain accounts name his parents as King Ashvasena and Queen Vamadevi, and place his birth roughly 273 years before Mahavira.

His most recognizable emblem is a serpent hood, reflecting stories in which the serpent deity Dharanendra protects him. Parshvanatha is also associated with four major vows—nonviolence, truthfulness, non-stealing, and non-possession—which Mahavira later expanded by explicitly adding celibacy as a separate vow.

Varanasi is sometimes confused with Vaishali or Kundagrama, places connected with other figures and traditions in Jain history. Parshvanatha’s traditional liberation site is Sammed Shikhar, now a major Jain pilgrimage destination in Jharkhand.