Title: Mahavira
Content:  Mahavira's teachings were influential. According to Rabindranath Tagore, "Mahavira proclaimed in India that religion is a reality and not a mere social convention. It is really true that salvation can not be had by merely observing external ceremonies. Religion cannot make any difference between man and man." - Rabindranath Tagore An event associated with the 2,500th anniversary of Mahavira's nirvana was held in 1974: "Probably few people in the West are aware that during this Anniversary year for the first time in their long history, the mendicants of the Śvētāmbara, Digambara and Sthānakavāsī sects assembled on the same platform, agreed upon a common flag (Jaina dhvaja) and emblem (pratīka); and resolved to bring about the unity of the community. For the duration of the year four dharma cakras, a wheel mounted on a chariot as an ancient symbol of the samavasaraṇa (Holy Assembly) of Tīrthaṅkara Mahavira traversed to all the major cities of India, winning legal sanctions from various state governments against the slaughter of animals for sacrifice or other religious purposes, a campaign which has been a major preoccupation of the Jainas throughout their history." - Padmanabh Jaini
Title: Mahavira
Content:  attained Kevala Gyan (omniscience). He preached for 30 years and attained Moksha (liberation) in the 6th century BCE, although the year varies by sect. Historically, Mahavira, who preached Jainism in ancient India, was an older contemporary of Gautama Buddha. Mahavira taught that observance of the vows of ahimsa (non-violence), satya (truth), asteya (non-stealing), brahmacharya (chastity), and aparigraha (non-attachment) are necessary for spiritual liberation. He taught the principles of Anekantavada (many-sided reality): syadvada and nayavada. Mahavira's teachings were compiled by Indrabhuti Gautama (his chief disciple) as the Jain Agamas. The texts, transmitted orally by Jain monks, are believed to have been largely lost by about the 1st century CE (when 
Title: Mahavira
Content:  Colonial-era Indologists considered Jainism (and Mahavira's followers) a sect of Buddhism because of superficial similarities in iconography and meditative and ascetic practices. As scholarship progressed, differences between the teachings of Mahavira and the Buddha were found so divergent that the religions were acknowledged as separate. Mahavira, says Moriz Winternitz, taught a "very elaborate belief in the soul" (unlike the Buddhists, who denied such elaboration). His ascetic teachings have a higher order of magnitude than those of Buddhism or Hinduism, and his emphasis on ahimsa (non-violence) is greater than that in other Indian religions.
Title: Mahavira
Content:  remaining were first written down in the Svetambara tradition). The surviving versions of the Agamas taught by Mahavira are some of Svetambara Jainism's foundation texts, but their authenticity is disputed in Digambara Jainism. Mahavira is usually depicted in a sitting or standing meditative posture, with the symbol of a lion beneath him. His earliest iconography is from archaeological sites in the North Indian city of Mathura, and is dated from between the 1st century BCE and the 2nd century CE. His birth is celebrated as Mahavir Janma Kalyanak and his nirvana (salvation) and also his first shishya (spiritual enlightenment) of Shri Gautama Swami is observed by Jains as Diwali.
Title: Mahavira
Content:  This article is about 24th Tirthankara of Jainism for other topics see Mahavira (disambiguation) Mahavira (महावीर:), also known as Vardhamana, was the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism. He was the spiritual successor of the 23rd Tirthankara Parshvanatha. Mahavira was born in the early part of the 6th century BCE into a royal Jain family in Bihar, India. His mother's name was Trishala and his father's name was Siddhartha. They were lay devotees of Parshvanatha. Mahavira abandoned all worldly possessions at the age of about 30 and left home in pursuit of spiritual awakening, becoming an ascetic. Mahavira practiced intense meditation and severe austerities for twelve and a half years, after which 
Title: Mahavira
Content:  Mahavira is often called the founder of Jainism, but Jains believe that the 23 previous tirthankaras also espoused it. Although Mahavira is sometimes placed in Parshvanatha's lineage, this is contradicted by texts stating that Mahavira renounced the world alone. Parshvanatha was born 273 years before Mahavira. Parshvanatha, a tirthankara whom modern Western historians consider a historical figure, lived in about the 8th century BCE. Jain texts suggest that Mahavira's parents were lay devotees of Parshvanatha. When Mahavira revived the Jain community in the 6th century BCE, ahimsa was already an established, strictly observed rule. The followers of Parshvanatha vowed to observe ahimsa; this obligation was part of their caujjama dhamma (Fourfold Restraint). According to Dundas, 
Title: Mahavira
Content:  philosophy. According to Dundas, the anekantavada doctrine has been interpreted by many Jains as "promot[ing] a universal religious tolerance ... plurality ... [and a] ... benign attitude to other [ethical, religious] positions"; however, this misreads Jain historical texts and Mahavira's teachings. Mahavira's "many pointedness, multiple perspective" teachings are a doctrine about the nature of reality and human existence, not about tolerating religious positions such as sacrificing animals (or killing them for food) or violence against nonbelievers (or any other living being) as "perhaps right". The five vows for Jain monks and nuns are strict requirements, with no "perhaps". Mahavira's Jainism co-existed with Buddhism and Hinduism beyond the renunciant Jain communities, but each religion was "highly critical of the knowledge systems and ideologies of their rivals".
Title: Mahavira: The Hero of Nonviolence
Content:  Mahavira: The Hero of Nonviolence is an illustrated children’s story based upon the life of Mahavira, a teacher of the Jain faith.
Title: Mahavira
Content:  texts Mahavira is described, at age 72, as delivering his final preaching over a six-day period to a large group of people. The crowd falls asleep, awakening to find that he has disappeared (leaving only his nails and hair, which his followers cremate). The Jain Śvētāmbara tradition believes that Mahavira's nirvana occurred in 527 BCE, and the Digambara tradition holds that date of 468 BCE. In both traditions, his jiva (soul) is believed to abide in Siddhashila (the home of liberated souls). Mahavira's Jal Mandir stands at the place where he is said to have attained nirvana (moksha). Artworks in Jain temples and texts depict his final liberation and cremation, sometimes shown symbolically as a small pyre of sandalwood and a piece of burning camphor.
Title: Mahavira
Content:  in the north Indian city of Mathura, dated from the 1st{{nbsp}}century BCE to the 2nd{{nbsp}}century CE.{{sfn|Umakant P. Shah|1995|pp=15–17}}{{sfn|Cort|2010|pp=273–275}} The srivatsa mark on his chest and his dhyana-mudra posture appears in Kushana Empire-era artwork. Differences in Mahavira's depiction between the Digambara and Svetambara traditions appear in the late 5th{{nbsp}}century CE.{{sfn|Umakant P. Shah|1995|pp=15–17}} According to John Cort, the earliest archaeological evidence of Jina iconography with inscriptions precedes its datable texts by over 250 years.{{sfn|Cort|2010|pp=48–49}} Many images of Mahavira have been dated to the 12th century and earlier;{{sfn|Umakant P. Shah|1987|p=193}} an ancient sculpture was found in a cave in Sundarajapuram, Theni district, Tamil Nadu. K. Ajithadoss, a Jain scholar in Chennai, dated it to the 9th century. Jivantasvami represents Mahavira as a princely state. The Jina is represented as standing in the kayotsarga pose wearing crown and ornaments.{{Sfn|Umakant P. Shah|1995|p=15}}

Question: What is the religion of Mahavira?
Answer: Jainism.
nirgrantha.
Jain dharma.
Jainatva.
Jaina.
Jain mata.
Jaini.
Jainy.
jainas.