Thousands of Jain devotees in the city were seen flocking to Derasars on Thursday morning for darshan on the first day of Paryushan.
Ahmedabad (Gujarat), August 26, 2011: Thousands of Jain devotees in the city were seen flocking to Derasars on Thursday morning for darshan on the first day of Paryushan.
Jains observe fast during this period and Upashrayas witnessed huge crowd of devotees from as early as 5 am for the Pratikraman ceremony.
Speaking to DNA, Acharya Yashpremsurishwarji Maharaj of Shwetambar sect talked about the rituals of Pratikraman. He said, “Pratikraman is a ritual which means spiritual cleansing or purification. This ritual helps an individual wash away his or her sins. On the first day of Paryushan, Pratikraman is done twice – at 5 am and also in the evening. This is continued on all eight days of Paryushan and is followed twice daily, making it a total of 17 times of Pratikraman during the eight days of Paryushan.”
Maharaj further said that on the eighth or the last day Jains ask for forgiveness on ‘Micchami Dukadam’ – for siddhi prapti or samvatsari, after observing seven days of sadhana on Paryushan.
The Upashrayas of the city were chock-a-block with devotees waiting for pratikraman in the morning. President of Shalibhadra Jain group (an active Jain youth group), Falit Shah describing the piousness of the morning, said, “The morning environment was very vibrant with thousands of Jains dressed like sadhus in white robes and following hour-long ritual of purification. Interestingly, even children and young students observe fast amid their busy schedule, which is a big indicator of their devotion.”
Paryushan of the Shwetambar sect began on Thursday, while Digambar sect will begin their’s from next week when the Shwetambars end their fast on the day of Paarana. – News Courtesy: DNA India