Chandigarh, April 4, 2012: The Digambar Jain temple in Sector 27 and Shwetambar Jain temple in Sector 28 would soon be a sight difficult to miss. They are being decorated with lights and flowers, as the biggest festival of Jain community, Mahavir Jayanti, the birth anniversary of the 24th Tirthankar Bhagwan Mahavir, will be celebrated on Thursday.
The Tricity has nearly 500 Jain families residing here, who will participate in the grand celebration at both the temples on April 5. Processions and religious discourses will mark the birth of the Jain apostle of peace Lord Mahavir. On the big day, the devotees will gather at the temple in the wee hours to give a bath to Mahavir. This would be followed by a two-hour-long puja and a cultural programme by children.
After the programme, a ‘Rath Yatra’ would be taken out from Digamber Jain temple to Shwetambar Jain temple and back.
Another Mahavir ‘abhishek’ would be done after the procession, which will be followed by a grand ‘bhandara’ at the Digambar temple. The celebrations will conclude with the evening Puja at the temple.
Sandeep Jain, priest at the Digambar temple said, “The clothes are ready and even the ‘rath’ (Chariot) is being cleaned and decorated. The celebrations are open for all. Nearly 1,200 Jains will participate in the celebrations. The devotees would be enlightened about Mahavir and Jainism.” – News Courtesy: Times of India