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Jainism in a Global Perspective
rules for observing it or its exact duration (which are subject to variations) it always implies a complete fast but on alternate days. The type of food to be consumed every second day may differ from case to case: either ayambil or normal food, for instance. Fasting is of course accompanied by other religious acts, like the performance of Kayotsarga, recitation of Pratikramaņas and Japa of mantras dedicated to Rṣabhadeva. The difficulty of this fast is such that it is probably almost impossible to have a normal activity while observing it. This partly explains why the female tapasvis far outnumber their male counterparts, and why the Varșitapa is rather observed by elderly people who are free from professional obligations. There are even extreme cases like this man who died after having observed Varṣitapa for two continuous years.
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From the modern accounts, we see that Akṣayatṛtīya is an integrating Jaina festival which can involve every willing individual. On the one hand, although it is specially in force among Svetambaras (Mūrtipūjaka and Sthānakväsins), it is also celebrated among Digambaras and among Terapanthins conducted by Late Acarya Tulasi : thus on the occasion of the Acharya's tour to Gujarat in 1983, 86 men and women who had observed varṣitapa put an end to it. Acarya Tulasi received his alms from the hands of those who had fasted in that manner. The tapasvis offered his sugar-cane juice'. Similar celebrations also take place in South India1o. On the other hand, Akṣayatṛiya unites together all the members of the Jaina sangha, because even if most tapasvis are laypersons, monks and nuns may also practice Varṣitapa and all paraṇās are celebrated simultaneously11
Theoretically, the paraṇā ceremony does not seem to have been connected with any special tirtha. It can be celebrated in any local Jaina temple, either in a sober manner or with great pump if the tapasvis belong to rich families. Yet it is often preferred to have it performed in a Rṣabhadeva temple. In the course of time, it became usual to consider that the best place was Śatruñjaya/Palitana, because of the general importance of this site, and probably also because a large and famous temple dedicated to Rṣabhadeva is located on the hill. Thus, from a study on "Pilgrim circulation in Gujarat", we learn that in 1966 about 12,000 pilgrims gathered there on this occasion and performed the fast-breaking on about 1000 tapasvīs. In recent years, Hastinapur in Uttar Pradesh has also been promoted for these celebrations, as will be seen below, and it
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