there are a number of shrines in this area but the main shrine is of lord mahavira, the 24th and last tirthankara of the present "avasarpani" era (half time cycle of decreasing happiness as per jain cosmology). born in 599 bc in the ancient republic of vaishali (bihar) as a prince, he renounced all worldly pleasures and comforts and went in search of 'moksha' (salvation). soon he attained "kevala jnana" (enlightenment), and spent the rest of his life preaching to the people all over the country about the eternal truth of life and ways to attain moksha. though some believe that he was the founder of jainism but he was in a real sense the reformer of an existing faith who reorganized and presented the tenets of the religion in a form suitable to the period.