The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2503 page)

see ALTIRMIDH
.

 
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(Skt., ‘ford’, ‘crossing place’). In Indian religions, a recurrent metaphor for a sacred place where one can cross over easily and safely to the far shore of liberation (
mok
a
): a
limen
or threshold. T
rthas are the focus of devotion and
pilgrimage
(t
rthay
tr
) throughout India and can be found at actual fords across rivers and by tanks, lakes, and the seashore, as well as up mountains, in forests, and in cities. These thresholds between heaven and earth are charged with a power and purity which afford a spiritual crossing and are often associated with great events relating to the heroes of myth and legend or the appearances of the gods. T
rtha can also refer to a holy person or path which affords access to the sacred. Hence the twenty-four great Jain teachers are referred to as t
rtha
karas, ‘builders of the ford’; see also
T
RATH
.