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SAMARPAN
LAIN
SANGH
from the Devendra Peer and Veljibhai Bid of Samarpan Jain Sangh, and help of Dr. Manibhai Mehta of Jain Center of Southern California, he was off and running.
He ran first to the Jain Society of San Diego. He told them of his desire to build a complete temple with the help of the community and ship it to the convention so that 10,000 people may see it. He encountered lot of enthusiasm and also many questions in his Sangh but with supporters like Rohakbhai Vora, Ashokbhai Shah and Kishorbhai Mehta his dream carried the day.
10th Biennial JAINA Convention
To allow maximum number of people to see and pray at the same time, Nipul decided on a Choumukhi (four sided) design. He tried to create the design on the computer, but it was too complicated to communicate to non-engineers. So he built a scale model and took pictures. The temple design has a base of 25 ft by 25ft and a height of 23 ft. He borrowed a pillar and an arch of the wooden temple and got it professionally cleaned and then molds were made from it.
For the last six months every Saturday and Sunday volunteers from seven years to seventy years old- have met at his house to make pieces for the temple. With the help of his wife Renuka and son Amar, his whole house has been turned into a temple workshop. Almost 30 families in San Diego have so far put in approximately 2,000 hours and the clock is ticking on. There are 12 pillars, 16 arches, an eight feet tall shikher with a kalash. Decorated with elephants, fountains and plants all around. In addition to the 4 marble Moorties at the apex, 24 Tirthankars moorties will be a sight to behold.
The project has brought so many people together in San Diego and has generated a crescendo of good,will and "Can Do" attitude that is about to run wild all over this continent. More than 250 Pieces from 4,000 pounds of Hydrostone have been made. The total weight is expected to be over 5,000 pounds. These components will be shipped (courtesy of Virendra Shah of Los Angeles) on 15 pallets. In Philadelphia Somchand Shah, Lalit Mehta, Rajni Doshi, Mahendra Sanghavi, Kaushik Shah and Dinesh Shah are amongst some of the people who have joined the army of volunteers who are going to make this temple a reality. Just visiting this newest Jain temple in Philadelphia will be enough of a reason to attend the convention. At the convention You will not only be able to do Darsan, but you will make your own Mahavir Murti to take home.
When you see this labor of love, the purity of purpose and the elegance of design, you will wonder. You will wonder how any Jain community in North America can say that they do not have resources to build a temple of their own. For cost of less than a luxury car, any community can build a temple like this. JAINA is always ready to help any center that wishes to build a temple with a grant, with Moorties and with publicity in JAIN DIGEST All they need is a resolve and a few volunteers. Come to the convention, and I guarantee that you will be inspired. And Nipul Shah is ready to assist any community that wishes to embark on the journey that will uplift them. A temple built by the hands of their own children can be the very best thing that happens in their community.
PHILADELPHIA, PA
Jain Education International 2010_03
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