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AHIMSA TIMES - MAY 2009 ISSUE - www.jainsamaj.org
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objectionable and the person concerned needs to be condemned by the society.
LOKESH MUNI LEAVES ACHARYA MANMALJI SECT. After a short tenure with Manmalji Sect, Sri Lokesh Muni has resigned from all the positions and moved out of the sect. Before joining Manmalji sect he was member of Acharya Manapragyaji's Tera Panth Sect. After resigning from Tera Panth he joined Acharya Manmal group in Delhi.
TEMPLE
HOLY CHANTS, CLEANSINGS MARK GROUNDBREAKING FOR JAIN CENTER IN NEW JERSEY - FRANKLIN, Nine shila stones were ceremonially! cleansed with milk and placed in the excavated site of the future Jain Center on Cedar Grove Lane in Somerset. Members of the Jain Center of New Jersey chanted holy mantras during a recent groundbreaking ceremony as they buried the stones beneath the spot where the main altar will be located. During the Shilanyas Mahotsav ceremony, a gold tortoise was placed in the ground. The tortoise signifies the long lifespan of the Derasar or temple. When completed, the project will include three buildings totaling about 51,000 square feet. The sanctuary will seat about 340 people, The largest building, a prayer hall, will have two floors with a total area of about 42,000 square feet. The upper floor will have a large assembly hall. The lower floor will have a dining hall, kitchen, an audio-video room and a library. A caretaker's house also will be built on the 9.6-acre site. A parking lot with space for more than 320 cars has already been constructed. The project is expected to cost about $12 million. The plans have been in the works since the site was purchased in 2000 by the Jain Center of New Jersey, one of the oldest Jain Centers in United States. The main objective of the Jain Center is to develop a place of worship in Central Jersey.
GANDHI NAGAR (GUJARAT) TO HAVE A TALLEST MAHAVIR SWAMI IDOL Gandhinagar, May 13, 2009: Jain monk Padmasagarsurishwar Ji Maharaj announced that Gandhinagar would have Lord Mahavir Swami's 108 ft idol. Once ready this idol would be the tallest idol of Mahavir Swami who is the 24th Jain Tirthankara. Proposed idol would be erected on Gandhinagar's 'J' Road. It would weight 228 tons. The work of producing this Panchadhatu idol has already been started. Padmasagarsurishwarji Maharaj further said that there would be a mountain like structure behind the idol.
RECURRING INCIDENTS OF THEFT OF IDOLS FROM JAIN TEMPLES It is very unfortunate to observe that incidents of theft of valuable idols of Jain deities, other materials and cash have been continuously taking place in Jain temples during the last few years and no stern action has been taken to recover the stolen items and bring the culprits o book. Recently, in the night of 21st April, theft of three rare ashtadhatu idols and silver mahamandal took place in a four hundred years old Digambar Jain temple at Udensar village near Firozabad town in Uttar Pradesh. The idols belonged to Shri Mahavir Swami, weighing 27 Kg., that of Adinath Swami, weighing 24 kg, and that of Pushpdant Swami, weighing 6 kg. The culprits also broke five small metallic idols and two stone idols. The theft was detected only when the temple was opened in the early morning. The matter was hen immediately reported to the police,
SANTHARA
BBC - SANTHARA SHOULD NOT BE EQUATED TO SUICIDE By Narayan Bareth, BBC News, Jaipur - Commenting on the Santhara Practice in Jains Religion BBC has expressed that this traditional practice of Jains should not be equated to suicide. The News Service extensively covered the recent death of Shri Amar Chandji, 76, at Jaipur, after observing "santhara". BBC mentioned that this is centuries-old Jain practice, where a person starves to prepare spiritually for his death. Campaigners want the
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