Jain Center Los Angeles CA 1988 07 Jain Bhavan Inauguration

Author(s): Jain Center So CA Los Angeles
Publisher: USA Jain Center Southern California

Page 19

JAIN RELIGION IN NORTH AMERICA
Shri S. A. Bhuvanendra Kumar, M.Sc., P. Engg.
Ontario, Canada
The North American continent is comprised of two nations, the United States of America and Canada.
from India brought in more Jains and Jain expatriate workers in Middle Eastern countries arrived in search of a better life. The numbers began swelling and the political turmoil of the early seventies in the East African states brought even more Jains to North America.
The date of arrival and settlement of Jains in North America has not been clearly established. But there were Jains in North America before the Jains who arrived here more recently from India. The original Jains of North America were those who had em- braced the Jain religion as far back as the forties or even earlier. Much evidence can be found in support of this in Jain periodicals and writings in both India and North America. The late Dr. Kamata Prasad Jain of the World Jain Mission, Aliganj (U.P.) is credited as the pioneer in influencing the westerners to the Jain religion.
The Jain immigrants from African countries — Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania were the latest to arrive and consisted mainly of Gujaratis. In the U.S. these immigrants settled on the East Coast from Massachusetts to Florida. In the West, they settled in California. In Canada, they settled in cities like Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, and Vancouver.
The early Jain settlers from India came to North America in pursuit of higher studies, and as events took their turn, they chose to settle down in the new land. The bulk of these early settlers came from Northern India and particularly from Delhi, Punjab, and U.P.. The only known and reported Jain from Southern India was Dr. Jeevendra Kumar who went back home to become a renowned and respected surgeon in the State of Karnataka.
The numerical strength of Jain settlers in North America provided an impetus to an array of activities in Jain communities across North America. Many Jain organizations came into existence, and they warranted religious direction and guidance in practicing the Jain way of life based on the teachings of the Tirthankaras. The Jain communities espoused the basic traditions of the Jain religion preached by various Jain saints in the post-Mahavira era. This uniqueness of Jains in North America could be heralded as the great Renaissance in the Jain religion to bring about harmony, fraternity and fundamental integration in the socio-religious structure of Jainism.
The Jain settlers from India were mostly profession- als — engineers, physicians, and professors. Most of these early settlers had come under the influence of the World Jain Mission and its founder, the late Kamata Prasad Jain, who had started spreading Jainism among interested intellectuals around the world.
The liberalization of immigration laws both in Canada and in the United States during the midsixties had a great impact on Jain migration to these countries. The Jain students were welcomed to settle and made a new home. Direct immigration
The force of Jain communities in North America paved the way for many Jain Munis, Sadhvis, Bhattarakas, scholars, and leaders to visit these communities in order to bring awareness and the essence of Jain Consciousness. The Bhattarakas were the first among the religious people to visit North America: the Bhattarak of Humcha Math (where goddess Padmavati Devi reigns); the Bhattarak of Moodabidri Math; and the Bhattarak of Shravanbelagola
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