Simandhar resides at Mahavideh Kshetra, another land within the Jain cosmological universe (see Jain cosmology).[2][3][4]
The five lands of the Bharat Kshetra are currently in the fifth Ara (a degraded time-cycle in which Tirthankaras do not take birth).[5][6] The most recent Tirthankara present on Bharata Kshetra (present world) was Vardhamana Mahavira, whom historians estimate lived between 599 and 527 BCE, the last in a cycle of 24 Tirthankaras.[7][8]
On Mahavideh Kshetra, the fourth Ara (a spiritually elevated time-cycle) exists continuously. There, Tirthankaras perpetually are born.[9][5] There are 5 Mahavideh Kshetras, each being a separate land. At present, there are 4 Tirthankaras residing in each Mahavideh Kshetra. Thus there are a total of 20 Tirthankaras residing there, Simandhar being one among them.[3][10]
Biography per Jain tradition
Simandhar is a living Tirthankara, an Arihant, who is said to be currently present on another world in the Jain cosmological universe.[11][12]
The Arihant Simandhar is believed to be currently 150,000 earth years old (equivalent to 49 years at Mahavideh Kshetra), and has a remaining lifespan of 125,000 earth years.[13][14]
He lives in the city of Pundarikgiri, the capital of Pushpakalavati, one of 32 geographical divisions on Mahavideh Kshetra.[3][15][16] Pundarikgiri is ruled by King Shreyans, who is Simandhar's father. His mother is Satyaki. While pregnant with Simandhar, Satyaki had a sequence of auspicious dreams indicating that she would give birth to a Tirthankara.[17][18] Simandhar was born with three complete aspects of jnana, or self-knowledge:
As a young adult, he married Rukamani and then, later in life, took diksha, renunciation from worldly life.[17]
Simandhar's height is 500 dhanushya, approximately 1,500 feet, which is considered an average height for the people of Mahavideh Kshetra.[3]
Worship
Iconography
Simandhara is usually depicted in a sitting or standing meditative posture with the symbol of a bull beneath him.[20] Every Tīrthankara has a distinguishing emblem that allows worshippers to distinguish similar-looking idols of the Tirthankaras.[21][22][23]
Idol of Simandhar at Shri Bibrod Adinath Jain Shwetamber Tirth, Bibdod, Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh, India
.jpg)
