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Jainismalso: sambhavanathalso: sambhavnath

Sambhavanatha Ji

Third tirthankara of the present cosmic age. Honoured at Kumbhariya and in Jaisalmer fort. Added 2026-09-17.

Draft — pending review. This text has been sourced and translated per our editorial policy, but has not yet completed human review against sung versions. Wording may change.

Who is Sambhavanatha Ji

Sambhavanatha is the third tirthankara of the present age. His emblem is the horse. He was born at Shravasti and attained liberation on Mount Shikharji, at the shrine of Dhaval Koot.

Names & Epithets

No widely used alternative name was found in the sources consulted.

Iconography & Symbols

Lanchana, the emblem: the horse, at the pedestal. Body colour: golden, in meditative posture. Surrounding sculpture conventionally includes the astapratiharyas, the eight auspicious accompaniments of a tirthankara image, a fivefold arch, and a pitcher motif. Yaksha: Trimukha, three-faced, agreed by both traditions. Yakshi: Prajnapti in Digambara tradition, Duritari in Shvetambara tradition.

Key Stories

Digambara texts, the Uttarapurana in particular, hold that he was born already possessing three kinds of innate knowledge. The tradition places him thirty lakh crore sagara after his predecessor Ajitanatha, with his successor born ten lakh crore sagara after him. Those are units of cosmological time, not historical intervals, and the tradition presents them as such. He attained omniscience beneath a sala tree. The place is not stated in the sources consulted.

Family & Relations

Father: Jitari. Mother: Susena. Birthplace: Shravasti, the ancient city in present-day Uttar Pradesh, where an annual fair still commemorates his birth kalyanaka in October or November.

Significance

Principal places: the Shobhnath temple ruins at Shravasti, marking his birthplace; Dhaval Koot on Mount Shikharji, his liberation shrine; the historic shrine complex at Ranthambore Fort; the Sambhavanatha temple at Idar in Gujarat; and the sixteenth-century Chaturmukha Basadi at Gerusoppa in Karnataka.

Regional & Sectarian Variation

The yakshi's name differs by sect. Digambara texts emphasise his innate threefold knowledge at birth; the sources consulted do not state how Shvetambara tradition treats that point.

Sources

Drafted: 2026-09-18, not yet reviewed

Prayers for Sambhavanatha Ji

Prayers for Sambhavanatha Ji are in production, sourcing and review come before publication.

Sacred sites of Sambhavanatha Ji

Site guides for Sambhavanatha Ji are being researched and reviewed.

These sites have another presiding deity but also honour Sambhavanatha Ji.

Jaisalmer district
JainismFamily friendly

Jain Temples of Jaisalmer Fort

Seven interconnected temples inside Jaisalmer Fort, built in yellow desert sandstone rather than the marble used everywhere else in the region, and housing an i…

Banaskantha district
JainismFamily friendly

Kumbhariya Jain Temples

Five marble temples of the Chaulukya period, less than two kilometres from Ambaji, considered architecturally to rival Dilwara and far less visited. Sect: Shvet…