• Second council

  • First council

  • Fourth council

  • Third council


The first Jain council (conference) of monks was held in Pataliputra about 160 years after Lord Mahavira’s nirvana. Monk Bhadrabahu, who had the knowledge of all 12 Angas, could not be present at that meeting. The rest of the monks could compile only the first eleven Angas by recollection and thus, the twelfth Anga was lost. The monks from the South did not agree with this compilation, and the first split in Jainism started. Jains divided into two main groups, Svetambaras and Digambaras. Svetambara monks wore white clothes. Digambara monks did not wear any clothes at all.