Jain Center Los Angeles CA 1998 07 10th Anniversary of Jain Bhavan

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

Page 45

The Community Empowerment years: 1996-97
Shree Virendrabhai Shah
There was hardly a week without some activity at our Jain Center. The response and participation by the community was very high. Consequently, the Jain Center visiting hours were expanded to all day on weekends. Furthermore, the Center made the hall and the sound system available free of charge to our members to conduct Prarthana on a death in the family.
Our Sangh helped in the Murti Sthapana in San Diego and San Fernando Valley, participated in JAINA convention in Toronto and the YJA convention in San Francisco. Other highlights were formations of Jain Senior Association and Ahimsa Awareness Group. Jain Center celebrated the 25th Year of Gurudev Chitrabhanu's Dharma Yatra to North America. Our community is indebted to Gurudev who has been instrumental for the tremendous growth of our Sangh. We were fortunate to have Gurudev present in person to show our gratitude and honor him during June 30" 1996 Dhwaj Rohan ceremony.
Educational Activities: The enrollment in JCYC class and adult Swadhyay continued to grow. Mummy-and-me class for 5 to 7 years, once-a-month class for young adults. Hindi language class, conversational Gujarati class, and the quarterly 1-day Shibir on the Nav Tatvas were added. Curriculum for the JCYC students was reviewed.
Building Expansion Project and Acquisitions: The planning for the expansion continued with selection of an architect and successful zoning change application to City of Buena Park. The next door Post Office Bldg. was acquired in July 97. An additional parcel of approx. 12,000 sq. ft. was also acquired for parking purposes.
Paryushana and Daslaxna Parva - 1996: These Mahaparva were celebrated in the presence of Dr. Kumarpal Desai and Shri Shashikant Sheth, respectively. Activities included the Kalpasutra and Barsa Sutra Vanchan in the morning, religious discourses in the evening, Mahavir Janma Vanchan, Swapna Ceremony, cultural program by youth, Samvatsari Pratikraman, Samuh Parria and tapasvi bahuman. We had record monetary contributions for Building Expansion, Jivdaya, Share & Care project, Ahimsha resource book, The Glory of Jainism book, and Paryushana bolis.
Paryushana and Daslaxna Parva - 1997: These Mahaparva were celebrated in the presence of Pujya Sunandaben Vohora and Shri Jagdishchandra Doshi, respectively. In addition to usual activities, unique programs included Samuh Aarti, Samuh Samayak, Rangoli, Chhatra installation ceremony, and musical programs by Kalyanji & Anandji Group. Pareshbhai Shah of San Diego and Hansaben Nagda. The community attendance exceeded 2,000 with the donations crossing the 6-digit mark. First ever Jain Center directory was published.
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An individual who follows the principals laid by jina is called a Jain. The path to achieve salvation
is called Jainism. - Sahil Shah (8)
Jain Education Intemational