Mandar Parvat, Sacred mountain in Banka district, India

Mandar Parvat is a small mountain about 700 feet (210 m) high in Banka district, Bihar, roughly 45 km south of Bhagalpur on the Bhagalpur–Dumka state highway. Its grey rock faces show vertical striations, green vegetation and pale dry earth cover the lower slopes, and two temples stand on the flat summit, one Hindu and one Jain.

Mandar Parvat appears in the Puranas and the Mahabharata as Mandarachal, the mountain used as the churning rod in Samudra Manthan. A mid-to-late 7th-century CE inscription of the Later Gupta king Ādityasena, found here, records the building of a temple on the hill. Jains hold that Vasupujya, the 12th tirthankara, took diksha, kevala jnana and nirvana here.

Mandar Hill is a pilgrimage site for Hindus and Jains. Jains hold that Vasupujya, the 12th tirthankara, took diksha, attained kevala jnana and reached nirvana here. Hindus identify the hill with Mandarachal of the Samudra Manthan myth. Fairs are held at Makar Sankranti and Mahavir Jayanti, and a Vishnu and Lakshmi temple stands on an island in the Paapharni pond.

Visitors can reach the site using regular buses from Bhagalpur, which run along the state road toward Dumka. The best time to visit is during the cooler months from October through March.

The hill is tied to the 12th Jain tirthankara Vasupujya, who is believed to have attained diksha, kevala jnana and nirvana here, making it one of the few sites linked to three of his five kalyanakas. A Later Gupta inscription of King Ādityasena, from the mid-to-late 7th century CE, records a temple built on the hill.