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center, it was not practical due to finance and infancy of JCSC. Initially
meetings were held in othercommunityhalls that included Gujarati Society,
Gujarati Cultural Society, Patidar Hall, Swaminarayana Temple Hall etc.
untilwewouldhaveourownbuilding. Itishearteningtoseethatwebuiltour
first Jain Bhavan from ground-up in 1988 costing about $1 million with the
full community support of donations andinterest-free loans. Within few
years, that facility was too small for our growing community and
exponentially growingPathshala attendance. Weembarked onthree-phase
expansionplantodevelopanewfacility.
In the mid seventies a small scaled replica ofPalitana Temple, hand
carved inteakwoodin India in 1904, wasobserved bymanymembersofJain
community including Lalit Shah and Shirish Seth, in the courtyard of
Castaways Hotel Casino in Las Vegas. India West covered the story with a
photo on frontpage in August 1980. Afterthe first Founding Convention of
JAINAin Los Angeles in 1981, we took PujyaAcharya Sushil Kumarji and
PujyaGurudev Chitrabhanuji, accompanied by Lalit Shah, Lal Momaya and
others, to Las Vegas for their spiritual guidance. They saw the temple and
agreed that the sacred Jain temple should belong to a Jain organization(e.g.
JCSC). Himanshu Shroffwho lived in Las Vegas was a gracious host and
helpedus. Dialogbeganwiththehotel managementfordonationorpurchase
of the temple. The perseverance of the JCSC and its successive leaders
resulted in the donation of that temple to JCSC in 1995, and it currently
adomsthemainfoyerofourbeautifulnewculturalcomplex.
Executive Committee resolved to publish a monthly newsletter to
communicate with the members. To avoid any bias and conflict ofinterest
{real or apparent), it was decided unanimously that no paid or unpaid
advertisements would be included in the JCSC newsletter. The newsletter
will include short religious articles,stavans,stotra, sutra, a summaryoflast
meeting or lecture, and information about the upcoming meetings or events.
Therewill bebroadgrassrootparticipationbythegeneral membership inany
large-scale event or undertaking or donations to avoid vested interest,
alienation ofgeneral members,to eliminate oligarchy and to stay away from
undueoutside influenceorinterference.
Initial JCSC membership was about 250 with 100 life membership.
The history ofJCSC will be bland, unauthenticated and non-historicalifthe
severalinitial committeesarenotmentionedwiththeirnames:
| SR No. | 528142 |
| Book Title | Jain Center Los Angeles CA 2009 07 Historical Perspectives of JAINA |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Jain Center So CA Los Angeles |
| Publisher | USA Jain Center Southern California |
| Publication Year | 2009 |
| Total Pages | 28 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Magazine, USA_Souvenir Jain Center CA So Los Angeles, & USA |
| File Size | 2 MB |