A minor correction here - 'Tirthankar' does not translate into 'saviour' exactly. The concept of a saviour is very Judeo-Christian. In Jainism, as in most other religions,there is no original sin. So a saviour becomes somewhat redundant. Secondly, Jainism asks us to take more responsibility for our lives - being passively saved by the hard work and suffering of another being is not part of that.

i've seen them - they're absolutely incredible!

I agree with Barbara. As seen from the road leading up to Gwalior Fort, these are a breathtaking sight!

looks similar to the BAMIYAN BUDDA which were destroyed by the taliban

Have not seen this but cannot forget Sravana Belagola where I spent an unforgettable day. http://www.google.ch/imgres?q=sravana+belagola&um=1&hl=en&biw=1092&bih=533&tbm=isch&tbnid=xD_Ne_UHsa1M7M:&imgrefurl=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1000_1099/jaintemples/bahubali/bahubali.html&docid=XewROO1-uQMZqM&imgurl=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1000_1099/jaintemples/bahubali/image1806.jpg&w=894&h=712&ei=rKDhT8vwJISl-gbo2_CzAw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=126&vpy=178&dur=120&hovh=200&hovw=252&tx=204&ty=106&sig=110249177262166510801&page=4&tbnh=168&tbnw=223&start=45&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:45,i:219

Sorry for such a long link but it is an 1806 painting of Shravana Belagola.

thithankar is a boatman ho takes you to the other bank of realisation

Excellent views, thanks for sharing Sumedha

The peace on the face of Gomateshvara Bahubali has to be experienced as well as the view as you walk up the hill. I have a replica on my dressing table which needless to say is no match for the original but serves as a reminder.

Is is also , of course, the place where Chandragupta Maurya spent his last days and starved himself to death when a famine ravaged his kingdom for 12 years.

"…And just here a necessary caution should be given. It is not always safe to assume that the meaning a technical term bore in early times remains the same in the Jainism of to-day. For instance, the term Tirtha-kara, or Tirthankara, would seem originally to have denoted the man who has made the passage across the ocean of worldly illusion (samsara), who has reached that further shore where he is, and will for ever be, free from action and desire : thus, the man who has attained unto a state of utter and absolute quiescence, and has entered into a rest that knows no change nor ending, a passionless and ineffable peace. But no Jaina whom I have ever consulted has assigned this meaning to the word Tirthankara. Widely different is the explanation given me by those whom I have asked, and they all agree. A Tirthankara, they say, is one who has made , has founded, the four tirthas . But what then is a tirtha ? Tlrtha, derived from the root tr, to save , is, they affirm, a technical term indicating the means of salvation , the means par excellence ; and the caturvidha sangha, or that fourfold Communion within which all who take refuge find ultimate salvation, consists of the four tirthas, or orders , namely, those of (1) sadhu or monk, (2) sadhvi or nun, (3) sravaka or lay-brother, and (4) sravika or lay-sister. These four tirthas are thus, as it were, four boats that will infallibly carry the passengers they bear unto the desired haven of deliverance (moksa). Hence the Tirthankara is one who is the Founder (with a very large F) of the four orders that collectively constitute the Communion or Sangha." - Extract from 'THE HEART OF JAINISM' - BY MRS. SINCLAIR STEVENSON

kya baat hai