Today in Rogerson's festive countdown we explore 16 dreams onset by the conception of a Jain monarch's son

A white elephant

A white bull

A white lion

Lakshmi

Mandara flowers

Silver moonbeams

The radiant sun

A jumping fish

A golden pitcher

A lake filled with lotus flowers

An ocean of milk

A celestial palace

A vase as high as Mount Meru filled with gems

A fire fed by sacrificial butter

A ruby and diamond throne

A celestial king ruling on earth

Queen Trishala is the mother of Mahavira, the last of the revered prophet teachers of the Jain. She was one of a family of seven princesses and one of her sisters became a Jain nun, while the other five married kings.

Her husband was King Siddhartha, to whom she explained an extraordinary series of 16 powerful dreams (14 in some accounts). Advised by seers, the king was able to tell her she was about to give birth to a strong, courageous son full of virtue.

Tomorrow: the hidden 17 of the Bektashi

• Taken from Rogerson's Book of Numbers by Barnaby Rogerson