Towards 108 Parshwanath: A Spiritual Passage | Nikhil Pattani Travels
I Did Not Set Out to Travel. I Set Out to Listen.
108 Parshwanath: A Journey Inward
There comes a stage in life when movement is no longer about geography—it becomes about alignment.
I did not begin this journey as a traveller. I began it as a seeker.
For years, real estate taught me how structures rise from land. Jainism, however, reminds me that the most important architecture is built within. Somewhere between professional milestones and personal silences, a thought began to persist:
Walk the path of the 108 Parshwanath Tirths.
Not as a checklist.
Not as religious tourism.
But as a disciplined return to stillness.
Because Lord Parshwanath does not merely represent devotion—he represents restraint in a restless world.
Why Parshwanath? Why Now?
The 23rd Tirthankara preached four eternal vows:
Ahimsa (non-violence), Satya (truth), Asteya (non-stealing), and Aparigraha (non-possessiveness).
In modern life, we accumulate everything—assets, opinions, speed, noise. Aparigraha asks a dangerous question:
What if freedom lies in owning less, reacting less, needing less?
This journey is my attempt to answer that.
Where the Calling Began
Last year, the first few footsteps felt almost accidental, yet deeply familiar—like returning to a language the soul already speaks.
Dokadiya Parshwanath, Somnath – A quiet reminder that faith does not compete with grandeur.
Chorvadiya (Hansmukh) Parshwanath, Chorvad – Where devotion felt intimate, almost conversational.
Navpallav Parshwanath, Mangrol – Renewal is not seasonal; it is spiritual.
Baleja Parshwanath, Porbandar – Discipline etched in stone.
Ajahara Parshwanath, Una (near Diu) – Serenity powerful enough to slow the mind.
I realised something essential then:
A tirth is not a destination. It is a mirror.
This Year: When the Journey Became Intentional
At the start of the year, I made a quiet commitment—no dramatic declarations, just consistent movement.
Shri Vaadiji Parshwanath, Patan
š Village: Patan
š District: Mehsana
šŗ State: Gujarat, India
Unassuming, almost austere. Yet it speaks of a time when rural temples protected faith during political upheavals. Jainism has never depended on spectacle; it survives through discipline.
Lesson: Spiritual continuity does not require scale—only sincerity.
Shri Shankheshwar Parshwanath
š Village: Shankheshwar
š District: Viramgam
šŗ State: Gujarat, India
Rebuilt, destroyed, resurrected—again and again since 1098 CE.
Standing there, I did not see a structure. I saw resilience.
Lesson: Faith is not fragile. It adapts without surrendering.
Shri Charup Shamala Parshwanath
š Village: Charup (Charup Gam)
š District: Mehsana
šŗ State: Gujarat, India
Once an intellectual and meditative centre, Charup feels designed for introspection rather than ritual display.
Lesson: Silence is often the highest form of prayer.
Shri Champa Parshwanath
š District: Patan
šŗ State: Gujarat, India
Sustained more by community memory than historical documentation.
Lesson: Religion lives longest in collective emotion, not archives.
Shri Dhingadmalla Parshwanath
š District: Patan
šŗ State: Gujarat, India
Modest. Barely spoken about. Yet officially part of the sacred 108.
Lesson: Spiritual worth is never measured by visibility.
Shri Koka Parshwanath
š District: Patan
šŗ State: Gujarat, India
Named after a devotee-donor—evidence of the merchant tradition that quietly funded Jain institutions.
As someone rooted in business, this resonates deeply.
Lesson: Wealth finds meaning only when it serves something beyond the self.
Shri Panchasara Parshwanath
District: Patan
State: Gujarat, India
Dating back to the 8th century, expanded during Solanki rule—a cornerstone of early Jain presence in North Gujarat.
Lesson: Civilisations endure when values outlive rulers.
Shri Tankla Parshwanath
š District: Patan
šŗ State: Gujarat, India
Sustained through family-led rituals.
Lesson: Spiritual inheritance is the most valuable legacy we pass forward.
Shri Gadaliya Parshwanath
š District: Patan
šŗ State: Gujarat, India
Built not by empires, but by communities.
Lesson: Faith decentralised is faith democratised.
Shri Kankan Parshwanath
š District: Patan
šŗ State: Gujarat, India
Linked to traditions of idol protection during invasions.
Lesson: Sometimes devotion means safeguarding, not expanding.
Shri Mahadev Ji Parshwanath
š District: Patan
šŗ State: Gujarat, India
A beautiful reflection of India’s spiritual coexistence—Jain and Shaiva identities sharing space without friction.
Lesson: True spirituality never feels threatened by another path.
Shri Naranga Parshwanath
š District: Patan
šŗ State: Gujarat, India
Often approached as a pause within longer pilgrimages.
And what is spirituality if not the art of pausing?
Lesson: Stillness is not inactivity—it is alignment.
Jain Philosophy on the Road
Travel has clarified what scriptures often condense:
Ahimsa is not passive—it is active compassion in thought, word, and commerce.
Aparigraha is the antidote to modern excess.
Anekantavada (multiplicity of viewpoints) teaches intellectual humility—the awareness that truth is rarely one-dimensional.
In leadership, business, and life, this philosophy is startlingly contemporary.
Jainism does not demand withdrawal from the world.
It demands awareness within it.
What This Journey Is Doing to Me
Somewhere along these roads, speed has begun to lose its charm.
I find myself valuing pauses more than arrivals.
Success once meant expansion. Now it increasingly means equilibrium.
I am not becoming detached from life—only less entangled.
And perhaps that is the quiet genius of Lord Parshwanath:
He does not ask us to escape the world.
He teaches us how not to be consumed by it.
The Count — Though This Is Not About Numbers
Parshwanath Tirths visited: 17 / 108
There is no urgency.
Spiritual journeys collapse under ambition.
Each temple is less a milestone and more a recalibration.
I do not know when I will complete all 108.
But I know this with certainty:
I am no longer travelling to see temples.
I am travelling to refine the traveller.
And if this path continues to shape me the way it has begun to, the final destination will not be the 108th tirth.
It will be a quieter mind.
A lighter self.
A life aligned with restraint, compassion, and awareness.
This is no longer a series of trips.
It is a lifelong dialogue between movement and stillness.
The journey continues.
Nikhil Pattani, the brains behind Destiniva Realty and Scholars' Takshashila, is shaking up the real estate world with 28 years of game-changing expertise across India and the UAE. Known for his bold sustainability moves, like launching India’s first Green Realtor Certification, Nikhil has helped 3,000+ families find their dream homes. With his ‘Sales Chanakya’ smarts and 1 lakh-word real estate manifesto, he's setting new rules for the industry. Ready to see what the future of real estate looks like? Nikhil's already built it.
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