Who was the 23rd Tirthankara in Jainism?

Parshvanath or Parshvanatha was the twenty-third Tirthankara (fordmaker) in Jainism. He is the earliest Jain leader generally accepted as a historical figure. He was a nobleman belonging to the Kshatriya caste. Parshvanath is also known as Appandai or Appandainathar.

He lived a life of a nobleman for 30 years and was never married, before he renounced the world to become a monk. He meditated for 84 days before attaining Kewalgyan. According to the Jain tradition he attained nirvana 250 years before the nirvana of Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankar. The chronology accepted by most Jains (Svetambaras) places Mahavira’s death in 527 BCE. Parshva was the son of king Ashvasena and queen Vama of Varanasi. He renounced the world and became an ascetic when he was 30 years old.