Parasnath Hill (also Sammet Shikhar) is a mountain peak in the Parasnath hill range. It is located towards the eastern end of the Chota Nagpur Plateau in the Giridih district (Hazaribagh district in British India) of the Indian state of Jharkhand. The hill is named after Parshvanatha, the 23rd Jain Tirthankara, who attained liberation here in 8th century BCE. In this connection, there is the holiest Jain pilgrimage, Shikharji on the top of hill. The hill is also known as Sammet Shikhar (lit. 'great mountain', the supreme deity) by other autochthonous of the region in religious contexts.
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Parasnath in the context of Jharkhand
Jharkhand (Hindi: Jhārkhaṇḍ, pronounced [d͡ʒʱaːɾkʰəɳɖ] ; lit. 'the land of forest ') is a landlocked state in eastern India. The state shares borders with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It is the 15th largest state by area, and the 14th largest by population. Hindi is the official language of the state. The city of Ranchi is its capital, and Dumka its sub-capital. The state is known for its waterfalls, hills and holy places; Baidyanath Dham, Parasnath, Dewri and Rajrappa are major religious sites. Jharkhand is primarily rural, with about 24% of its population living in cities as of 2011.
Jharkhand suffers from what is sometimes termed a resource curse: it accounts for more than 40% of India's mineral production but 39.1% of its population is below the poverty line and 19.6% of children under five years of age are malnourished.
Parasnath in the context of Parshvanatha
Pārśvanātha (Sanskrit: पार्श्वनाथः), or Pārśva and Pārasanātha, was the 23rd of 24 tīrthaṅkaras ("Ford-Maker" or supreme preacher of Dharma) of Jainism. Pārśvanātha is the earliest Jaina tīrthaṅkara who is acknowledged as probably a historical figure, with some teachings attributed to him that may be accurately recorded, and a possible historical nucleus within the legendary accounts of his life from traditional hagiographies. Historians consider that he may have lived between c. 8th to 6th century BCE, founding a proto-Jaina ascetic community which subsequently got revived and reformed by Mahāvīra (6th or 5th century BCE).
According to traditional Jaina narratives, he was born to King Aśvasena and Queen Vāmādevī of the Ikshvaku dynasty in the Indian city of Varanasi, 273 years before Mahāvīra, which places him between the 9th and 8th centuries BCE. Renouncing worldly life, he founded an ascetic community. He was the spiritual successor of the 22nd Tirthankar Neminatha. He is popularly seen as a supreme propagator and reviver of Jainism. Pārśvanātha is said to have attained moksha on Mount Sammeda (Madhuban, Jharkhand) popular as Parasnath hill in the Ganges basin, an important Jaina pilgrimage site. His iconography is notable for the serpent hood over his head, and his worship often includes Dharaṇendra and Padmāvatī (Jainism's serpent Devtā and Devī).