era, attained Nirvana on Chaturdashi of Kartika (Oct. 15, 527 BCE) at Pavapuri . Dipavali was mentioned in Jain books as the date of the nirvana of Mahavira . However, the oldest reference to Diwali is a related word, dipalikaya , which occurs in Harivamsha-Purana, written by Acharya Jinasena [18] and