     mahavira (599 bceâ527 bce), also known as vardhamana, was the twenty-fourth and last tirthankara of jainism. therefore, although mahavira is widely regarded as the founder of jainism, he is more properly regarded as a reformer of jainism. mahavira was born into a royal family in what is now bihar, india. at the age of 30 he left his home in pursuit of spiritual awakening (diksha). for the next twelve and a half years he practiced intense meditation and severe penance, after which he achieved kevala jnana or enlightenment. he travelled all over bharata (which was larger than today's india) for the next thirty years to teach his philosophy which is based on ahimsa, satya, asteya, brahmacharya and aparigraha. mahavira attained nirvana at the age of 72. ==early life== thumb|350px|queen trisala and the newborn mahavira mahavira was born into a royal family of kshatriyas. historians have identified three places in bihar as his possible birthplace: kundigram in vaishali district, lachhuar in jamui and kundalpur in nalanda. most modern historians agree that basokund was his birthplace.row over mahaviraâs birthplace - times of india traditionally, kundalagrama in the ancient city of vaishali is regarded his birthplace; however, its location remains unidentified. according to jainism, mahavira was born in 599 bce.mahavir jayanti: birth anniversary of lord mahavira i times of india some historians identify mahavira as a junior contemporary of gautama buddha, leaving his year of birth ambiguous.jainism: the story of mahavira - victoria and albert museum but most of the historians and jain followers agree that mahavira was born in 599 bce and place his date of birth on the thirteenth day of the rising moon of chaitra in the vira nirvana samvat calendar.kristi l. wiley: historical dictionary of jainism, lanham 2004, p. 134.[http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/mahavira.html 
468_BC_deaths 540s_BC_births Ascetics Indian_Jains Indian_religious_leaders Nonviolence_advocates Tirthankaras