Ahmedabad (Gujarat), March 23, 2012: Thousands of devotees thronged Sanskar Kendra on the last day of the biggest Jain Mahotsav to attend the ‘mahapooja.’ The venue was beautifully decorated for the last day. The final day of the Jain Mahotsav was to commemorate the noble deeds, generous contributions and virtues of Kumarpal Maneklal towards society and mankind.
On the first death anniversary of Kumarpal, Jain Acharyas encouraged devotees to follow Seth Kumarpal’s virtues all their life and five Jain Granthas were launched to enrich the devotees with spirituality. A grand worship with tons of various flowers such as roses, tuberoses (Rajanigandha) and Marigold was the feature of the last day. In the evening, more than 7,000 lamps were lit to spread the light of spiritualism.
Moreover, for the first time in the history of Jainism, Jain Tanjor paintings were inaugurated at the mahotsav. The Tanjor paintings depict the birth coronation of Bhagwan Adinath and were painted by famous artist V. Punni Selvam.
The mahotsav witnessed a series of activities and performances by renowned artists from all over India. The celebration also had nandishwar pooja, which is believed to be first in 200 years. Also, around 2,500 Jains performed a group fasting on day seven of the event.
During the eight days, the devotees got to enjoy various music bands and singing artists. The first day of the celebration kicked off with a grand rath yatra with musical bands from the Indian Army, Indian Air Force, camel band and other bands from other states of India. There were special performances by Padmabhushan Pt Birju Maharaj, internationally acclaimed Lehar group, Ustad Sujjat Hussain and Padmashree Pt Bhavani Shankar.
Apart from this, a total of 1 crore, 8 lakh navkaar mantra chanting was completed in eight days. – News Courtesy: DNA India