Lord Parshvanath the 23rd Tirthankar of Jainism was born in Varanasi in between the 8th and 9th centuries BC. Historians place his birth between the 7th and 8th centuries BC. He was born 350 years before Lord Mahaveer. He was the spiritual successor of the 22nd Tirththankar Lord Neminath.
He was born on the tenth day of Krishna Paksha to King Ashwsena and Queen Vamadevi of Varanasi. Lord Parshwanath belonged to the Ikshyaku Dynasty. Per Jain texts before his birth, it is said that he ruled as God Indra in the 13th heaven of Jain cosmology. While Parshvanatha was in his mother’s womb, Gods performed the garbha-kalyana (enlivened the fetus ceremony). His mother dreamt fourteen auspicious dreams, an indicator in Jain tradition that a Tirthankara was about to be born. According to the Jain texts, the thrones of the Indras shook when he was born and the Indras came down to earth to celebrate his janma-kalyanaka (his auspicious birth).
Parshvanatha was born with blue-black skin. A strong, handsome boy, he played with the Gods of water, hills, and trees. At age eight, Parshvanatha began practicing the twelve basic duties of the adult Jain householder.
At the age of 30, Lord Parshwanath renounced the world to become a monk. He meditated for 84 days before he attained Kewal Gyan
(Omniscience) under a dhataki tree near Varanasi. Omniscience means the attainment of supreme knowledge in Jainism. After attaining Omniscience Lord gave the Deshna (Divine preaching). Heavenly beings made Samosharan (the divine preaching hall) so that he could share his knowledge with all.
After preaching for 70 years Lord Parshvanath attained Moksh at Shikharji on Parshvanath hill in Bihar ( Jharkhand as of today).
Lord Parshvanath had to take many births before being born as Lord Parshvanath and finally attaining Moksh.
Lord Parshvanath is believed to be the remover of obstacles and savior of his devotees. He is depicted in a lotus posture and his head is shielded by a multiheaded serpent fanned like an umbrella, known as Lord Dharnendra. Lord Dharnendra and his wife Goddess Padmavati are believed to protect Lord Parshavnath during his meditation period from the perils of the serpent Kamath.
Snake is the symbol of Lord Parshvanth and often Lord Dharenendra and Goddess Padmavati are depicted along with Lord Parshavnath in pictures.
Wikipedia is a very good source of knowing more about Lord Parshvanath in detail. This is my attempt to compile the information on Jainism in a very simple manner.
