Parasnath is a hill in Giridih district of Jharkhand in India. It is the highest hill in Jharkhand towering to an elevation of 4480 feet. It is in fact the highest mountain south of the Himalayas. It is located at the latitude of 23 degree ,9 minutes North and longitude of 86 degree ,3 minutes East. There are two major theories as to how this hill came to be known as Parasnath. According to one theory the hill derives its name from the word Parasnath which means the "lord of the Paras". According to one legend, Paras is a stone that turns iron into gold when iron touches it. This hill is said to have some paras stones. There is also a tradition among people in India, including tribals, to presume any hill, river, village, tree etc to have its presiding god. Thus this hill containing paras stones naturally has a god. For local tribes including Santals, the name of the God is "Marang Buru" which meant deity of the hill. The Santals of Hazaribagh, Manbhum, Bankura and Santhal Parganas assemble here in the month of Baisakh on full moon day. Here they perform ritual of hunting for three days after which a great tribal session is held to decide their social issues. Now, Parasnath is a wild life sanctuary and hunting is illegal. Government is trying to persuade the tribals to stop this traditional ritual, but with no success. The another theory reminds as about the Parshvanath, 23rd Tirthankar of Jains. Since he got enlightenment here, the hill came to be known as Parasnath. There is the Parasnath Temple that is considered to be one of the most important and sanctified holy places of the Jains. According to Jain tradition, no less than 23 out of 24 Trithankaras (including Parsvanath) are believed to have attained salvation here. Parshvanath, like nine of his predecessors attained nirvana on the hill. However, according to local tradition the number of Tirthankars who attained nirvana on the Parasnath hill is 20 and not only 9. For each of them there is a shrine (gumti for tuk) on the hill. Earlier, the hill was inaccesible. It was made accessible since the construction of a road in 1838. The oldest of the jain temple appears to date only from AD 1775.