Where Did the 24 Tirthankaras Attain Moksha?

Twenty of the twenty-four Tirthankaras of the present half-cycle attained moksha at Sammeta Shikhara — the hill in present-day Jharkhand also known as Sammed Shikharji or Parasnath Hill. It is the most revered place of liberation in the Jain tradition, and the reason Bihar and Jharkhand together are described as the cradle of Jainism. The remaining four attained moksha at four separate sites.

The four who did not attain moksha at Sammeta Shikhara

The twenty at Sammeta Shikhara are every other Tirthankara: Ajitanatha (2), Sambhavanatha (3), Abhinandananatha (4), Sumatinatha (5), Padmaprabha (6), Suparshvanatha (7), Chandraprabha (8), Pushpadanta or Suvidhinatha (9), Shitalanatha (10), Shreyanasanatha (11), Vimalanatha (13), Anantanatha (14), Dharmanatha (15), Shantinatha (16), Kunthunatha (17), Aranatha (18), Mallinatha (19), Munisuvrata (20), Naminatha (21) and Parshvanatha (23).

A few details the tradition preserves about the four exceptions:

• Vasupujya is distinctive in that all five of his kalyanaks — conception, birth, renunciation, omniscience and nirvana — took place at Champapuri.
• Neminatha destroyed his ghati karmas and attained kevalajnana after fifty-four days of deep meditation on Mount Girnar, and attained moksha on that same hill.
• Mahavira, the last Tirthankara of this cycle, attained moksha at Pavapuri in Bihar.
• Rishabhanatha, the first, attained moksha at Ashtapad, though he attained omniscience at Purimatala.

Because twenty of the twenty-four were liberated there, Sammeta Shikhara is the single most important pilgrimage of liberation for Jains, and pilgrims traditionally walk its circuit visiting a shrine (tonk) for each Tirthankara.

Related: Where Did the 20 Tirthankaras Attain Moksha