Who was Mahavira? Why did he renounce the world?

Mahavira was born in the second half of the 6th century BCE at Kundagrama near vaishali in Bihar. He was the twenty-fourth and last of the tirthankaras. He is considered as the founder of Jainism because he made Jainism popular and systematic.
Mahavira renounced the world at the age of 30 in search of truth and became an ascetic. He practised severe penance and meditation for 12 long years. Finally, at the age of 42, he attained Spiritual Knowledge.