________________
MAHAVIR JAYANTI CELEBRATIONS
The Birth Day of Lord Mahavir, the 24th Tirthankara in the history of Jain Religion, this year fell on Sunday, April 12, 1987. This is the 2586th celebration in the making of history. Jains and Jain organisations and others have celebrated this auspicious event throughout the world. Here in North America, Mahavir Jayanti celebration is as joyous as anywhere else, and here's a brief account of the joyous celebrations from various Jain organisations, to attest:
BOSTON, MA. Auspicious Mahavir Jayanti was organised on Sunday, April 12 at Sain Center, 15 Cedar St., Norwood, a suburb. Jain Center of Greater Boston arranged the event. The program consisted of various items such as Mangal Path, Bhavana, panel discussion, Boli, Supan and Aarti. Chandrakant vora coordinated the events.
A delicious dinner, prepared by a group of volunteers, was served at the end.
with poojas med the gathering andmokar Mantra and
TORONTO, ON. The birthday celebration of Lord Mahavir was organised on Sunday, April 20 by the Jain Society of Toronto. The program began at 2:00 p.m. with poojas in Hindi followed by Gujarati. The president of the Society, Dinesh Jain welcomed the gathering and introduced the Executive members. And the cultural and religious events - Namokar Mantra and devotional songs were presented by a group of children. Master of ceremonies for the event was Meena Shah.
Visiting Sadhvi, Satyavati from Delhi and Gurdev Chitrabhanu delivered lectures on the teachings of Lord Mahavir.
The celebrations came to an end with Aarti followed by a dinner.
HOUSTON, TX. Mahavir Jayanti was celebrated here on April 11 and 12 at 2223 Wirtcrest Av. The celebrations were organised by Houston Jain Society.
The first day celebration began at 8:00 a.m. The highlight was the performance of Siddha Chakra Pooja. It consisted of 20 poojas, from Dwara pooja to Shanti Kalash. Numerous members participated and performed various poojas. Aarti and Mangal Divo brought an end to the mornings program. :
The morning program began at 2:00 p.m. Many cultural and entertainment events were presented by children, in group and solo.
The program on the second day, on April 12, was Ayambil, the main feature.
The coordinators of Siddha Chakra pooja were Acharya Mehta and Prabha Chheda. Pradeep Shah coordinated the children program. Ayambil was coordinated by two couples, Pravin & Kokila Jain and Harish & Varsha Mehta. BUFFALO, NY. The Jain Community of Buffalo celebrated Mahavir Jayanti on Sunday, April 12 at Hindu Cultural Center, 1595 N. French Rd. in Getzville, a suburb. The program started at 10:30 a.m. with Namokar Mantra and Mangal Path performed by a group of children. Numerous Bhajans, in praise of Lord Mahavir and other Tirthankaras, were rendered in Hindi, Punjabi & Gajarati languages, in group and solo. The participants were: Meena Shah, Vandana Jain, Kokila Chheda, Lata Kothari, Pramodini Pahade, Urmila Jain, Jagat Prasad Jain and Monisha Jain.
Dr. Jijay Bhandari, Chief Speaker at the gathering, gave a talk on Non-violence, Vegetarianism & Health. The talk, where personal experiences formed the basis of firmness and Faith, was simple, factual and explicitly engaging.
The young Neal Shah, 11 year old grade 6 student, delivered a speech on Ahimsa in reference to the joyous celebrations of Lord Mahavir's birth day and the contradictory social values and justices prevailing to-day.
Mahavir Aarti brought the celebration to an end, and a dinner, prepared by volunteers, was served.
Jain Education International 2010_02
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
