Shikharji: The Hill Where Souls Ascended

Rising to 1,365 metres, Parasnath Hill in the Giridih district of Jharkhand is the highest peak in the state and the single most sacred pilgrimage destination in Jainism. Known to the faithful as Sammed Shikharji, or simply Shikharji, it is revered as the place where twenty of the twenty-four Tirthankaras of the present cosmic age are believed to have attained nirvana, casting off the body and liberating the soul forever. The hill takes its common name from Parshvanatha, the twenty-third Tirthankara, whose association with the summit is especially cherished.

Because so many liberated souls departed from these slopes, Shikharji is classified as a siddhakshetra, a place of final release, and it is considered the foremost of all such sites. Both the Digambara and Shvetambara traditions hold it in the deepest reverence, and pilgrims travel here from across India and the world. The mountain is dotted with small shrines and tonks, memorial pavilions marking the spots associated with the moksha of individual Tirthankaras, including Parshvanatha, Chandraprabha, Shantinatha and many others.

The pilgrimage itself is an act of devotion and endurance. The traditional parikrama, or circumambulation of the sacred peaks, covers roughly 27 to 30 kilometres of forest trails and stone paths, and devotees begin the climb well before dawn to complete the round in a single day. Many walk barefoot as a sign of humility, chanting the names of the Tirthankaras as they ascend through sal forests alive with birdsong. Palanquins carried by local bearers are available for those unable to make the strenuous trek on foot. The base town of Madhuban provides dharamshalas, temples and pilgrim facilities.

The valley temples at Madhuban and the summit shrines have been rebuilt and maintained over centuries by Jain trusts, and inscriptions and records testify to continuous worship here across many hundreds of years. The atmosphere combines natural grandeur with intense sanctity; the forested ridges, the mist that clings to the peaks at sunrise, and the silence broken only by prayer create a setting that pilgrims describe as otherworldly.

Shikharji's sanctity has also made it the focus of determined protection efforts. In recent years the Jain community mobilised nationally to preserve the hill's religious character against commercial tourism and to safeguard its status as a place of pilgrimage rather than recreation, reflecting how central the site remains to Jain identity. The surrounding forest is also an ecologically sensitive zone and part of a wildlife sanctuary.

For visitors, the nearest railhead is at Parasnath station on the Delhi-Kolkata main line, from which Madhuban is a short road journey. The best season for pilgrimage runs from October to March, when the weather is cool and the climb more manageable. Pilgrims are asked to observe strict discipline on the hill: no leather, no intoxicants, and a respectful, meditative demeanour throughout the parikrama. To stand at the summit tonks, where tradition holds that liberated souls left the world of rebirth behind, is regarded as the culmination of a lifetime of Jain devotion, and for many the ascent of Shikharji is the single most important journey they will ever undertake.