Within the Jain tradition, the cycle of festivals can be seen as a carefully structured discipline of remembrance, purification, and recommitment to the path of liberation. Foremost among these observances is Paryushan Parva, regarded as the most important annual festival, lasting eight days for Śvetāmbara Jains and ten days (as Das Lakshana) for Digambaras. During this period, practitioners intensify fasting, prayer, scriptural study, and introspection, with a sustained emphasis on self-purification and the cultivation of core virtues. The festival culminates in Samvatsari, the day of universal forgiveness, when Jains consciously seek and extend forgiveness to all beings for any harm caused, whether knowingly or unknowingly. This movement from austerity to reconciliation reflects a deep conviction that spiritual progress is inseparable from ethical repair and inner honesty.

Mahavir Jayanti and the Jain observance of Diwali frame the life of Mahavira, the twenty‑fourth Tirthankara, in terms of both origin and consummation. Mahavir Jayanti celebrates his birth and invites reflection on his teachings of non‑violence, truthfulness, non‑stealing, celibacy, and non‑attachment; it is marked by temple visits, ritual bathing of images, processions, and charitable acts. Diwali, for Jains, is not primarily a festival of worldly prosperity but a commemoration of Mahavira’s nirvana, his final liberation from the cycle of birth and death. Lamps are lit to symbolize the light of his knowledge and the dispelling of ignorance, and many engage in fasting, meditation, and scriptural recitation. Together, these festivals encourage devotees to contemplate both the exemplary life and the ultimate freedom of Mahavira as a template for their own spiritual aspirations.

Other festivals highlight additional dimensions of Jain spiritual culture, especially the interplay of renunciation, knowledge, and disciplined conduct. Akshaya Tritiya commemorates the first food donation received by Rishabhanatha, the first Tirthankara, after a prolonged fast, and thus underscores the sanctity of charity (dāna) and the proper relationship between ascetics and lay supporters. Kartik Purnima, following the Diwali period, is associated with the completion of intensive spiritual practices and the end of the monsoon retreat, when monks and nuns resume their itinerant way of life; it thus marks a transition from concentrated inward practice to renewed outward teaching and travel. Maun Ekadashi, a day of silence and fasting, further refines this ethos by focusing attention on restraint of speech as a subtle yet powerful form of non‑violence and self‑control. Across these observances, the festivals function less as occasions for mere celebration and more as recurring opportunities to realign conduct, intention, and understanding with the Jain ideal of liberation through self‑purification.