Kunthunatha

Kunthunatha
17th Jain Tirthankara, 6th Chakravartin, 12th Kamadeva
Worship of Kunthu
Symbol	Goat[1]
Height	35 bows (105 metres)
Age	over 100,000 years
Color	Golden
Parents	Surya (Sura) (father) Sri devi (mother)
Preceded by	Shantinatha
Succeeded by	Aranatha
Born	Hastinapur
Moksha	Shikharji

Kunthunath was the seventeenth Tirthankara, sixth Chakravartin^[2] and twelfth Kamadeva of the present half time cycle, Avasarpini.^[1][3] According to Jain beliefs, he became a siddha, a liberated soul which has destroyed all of its karma. Kunthunatha was born to King Sura (Surya)^[1] and Queen Sridevi at Hastinapur^[2] in the Ikshvaku dynasty on the fourteenth day of the Vaishakh Krishna month of the Indian calendar.^[3]

Etymology

Kunthu means heap of Jewels.^[2]

Life

Like all other Chakravartin, he also conquered all the lands^[2] and went to write his name on the foothills of mountains. Seeing the names of other Chakravartin already there, he saw his ambitions dwarfed. He then renounced his throne and became an ascetic for penance.^[2] At an age of over 100,000 years he liberated his soul and attained Moksha on Mount Shikharji.^[2]

Famous Temple

• Prachin Bada Mandir, Hastinapur, Uttar Pradesh
• Kunthunath Temple at Jaisalmer Fort in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan

• 
  Chaubisi of Kunthunatha,Chaubisi of Kunthunatha at National Museum, New Delhi, 15h Century
• 
  Prachin Bada Mandir, Hastinapur
• 
  Kunthunath Temple, Madhuban

See also

• God in Jainism
• Arihant (Jainism)
• Jainism and non-creationism

References

1. Forlong 1897, p. 14.
2. von Glasenapp 1999, p. 308.
3. Tukol 1980, p. 31.

Sources

• von Glasenapp, Helmuth (1 January 1999), Jainism: An Indian Religion of Salvation, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 81-208-1376-6
• Tukol, T. K. (1980), Compendium of Jainism, Dharwad: University of Karnataka
• Forlong, Major-General J. G. R. (1897), Short Studies in the Science of Comparative Religions, 15 Piccadilly, London: B. Quaritch, Not in Copyright