Jain Digest 1992 10 Vol 19 No 04

Author(s): Federation of JAINA
Publisher: USA Federation of JAINA

Page 14

Jain Digest
Paryushan Parva Celebrations
•The Jain Center of Cincinnati-Dayton celebrated Paryushan with Bhattak Shree Charukirtiji. There were a number of thoughtprovoking Pravachana given in simple language with illustrations. Each day, a large number of people benefited by his presence. Two youth members, Nirali Shah (14 years) and Mitesh Shah (17 years) observed eight days of fast. •Pandit Shree Dhirajlalji Mehta, a Jain scholar from India, was the invited speaker for the Paryushan celebration at the Jain Society of Metropolitan Washington. He gave excellent lectures on the occasion. Shree Mehtaji will later teach Jainism to prospective Sadhus in India. •Muni Shree Roop Chandji and Shree Manak Muniji gave highly enlightened lectures during Paryushna Parva at the Jain Society of Toronto. • Paryushan Parva was celebrated in the presence of Shramaniji Param Pranja and
Bhavik Pranja at the Jain Society of Houston. The Jain youth fellowship of Houston put together a banquet to honor all 1992 high school and college graduates. • At the Jain Center of Northern California, four adults fasted for 8 days and four youths, ages 12-19, did eight days of Ekasana (eating once only). Group Pratikraman was held on September 1. • The Jain Center of Southern California celebrated Paryushan Parva under the guidance of Sadhvi Shree Yasha and Sadhavi Shree Vibhaji from Veerayatan, India. Sadhviji enlightened the Jain community with Panch Mahavarta of Lord Mahavir. The Mahavir Janam Kalaxarak was celebrated on August 29. Around 1,500 people attended the Swapna ceremony. One person did 16 upvas, four persons did 10 upvas, one person did nine upvas and 31 persons did eight upvas. The youngest person among these was 12 years old and the oldest person was 69 years old.
Jain Center of Central Ohio, Columbus, established since May 1991, celebrated its second Paryushan Parva with a tremendous success. Thecenter started the Parva with a 12 hour Navakr Mantra Jaap in which over 30 members participated. Over 80 members turned out to witness the program of Swapna Darshan, Ghee Boli by Muni Armendra Kumarji. Hemaben R. Shsh, Sras R. Shah and Paras R. Shah did eight Akashnas. Mr. Jabakben T.Shah of Houston did five Upwas and three Akashnas and another person, who wishes to remain anonymous, performed five Upwas and six Akasnas. Dr. Surendra Jain, of Athens, Ohio, did four Upwas. Suresh Shah and Sona Mehta performed one Upwas.. •At the Jain Center of Buffalo, Sapna Drshan was celebrated on August 29 with far reaching changes were being requested by the youths all over the place. Most of the program was conducted by the youths in English. Funds were collected without "Geeboli!" No announcement of the donor what was made. Lots were drawn for carrying Swapnas, swinging the cradle, Mangal Devo and Aarti. Jains from neighboring towns, i.e. Rochester, Batavia, Springville, Toronto, St. Catharines and Welland also participated and liked the celebration very much. Children, even little ones, were participating actively. Children welcomed guests and explained the significance of the occasion. They explained the meaning of each swapana and compared them with other religions. Finally, they thanked the guests. Mr. Vasant Shetha and Mr. Rajubhai Doshi and their group from Tononto helped to celebrate the occasion. Mr. Sheth also explained Kalpa Sutra in English. The community also had Samvatsari Pratikarman on August 31. Dr. Ramesh Shah conducted the Prtikarman in Enghlish, Hindi and Gujarat. Again, children actively participated. • Jain Society of Central Florida celebrated Mahavir Jayanti on August 29 in the newly constructed Hindu Cultural Center in Orlando. Approximately 250 Jain and non-Jains participated for the first time in the Mahavir Jayanti Swapana celebration and raised pledges for future activities. The particpants' responses were overwhelmingly positive. JSOCF is planning to purchase Swapanas for the group so that the Mahavir Jayanti Swapana celebration can be continued in the future. The following indivuduals were recognized for the tapasya (penance) during Paryusana Parva: Mrs. Ritaben S. Parikh for Mass-Khaman (30 days fasting); Mrs. Harshaben R. Nagda, Mr. Viral B. Doshi, Ms. Mamata Meghta and Ms. Preyerna Trivedi for eight days of fasting. After the celebration, the group collected funds to help the hurricane Andrew victems in Miami, FL.
Jain Society of Greater Cleveland celebrated Paryushan and Dashlakshan Parva in an integrated manner with great enthusiasm and a record number in attendance. The highlight of the event was the sixteen days of fasting by Shobha Shah and eight days of fasting by Jalpa Shah, a high school attending daughter of Shobha and Ashok Shah. Jayshree and Sonal Jasani was another mother and daughter team who performed Atthai. Ramesh Shah, who performed atthama last year, performed atthai this year. Among the new Tapasvis are Darshanaben Shah, Atthai and Dr. Hemlata Pokharna, Atthai. Sudha Shah performed seven days of fasting, and Jayaben Patel did Atthama (three days of fasting). The Jain community felt extremely proud in honoring the Tapasvis and awarding gift certificates. The increase in attendance of high school and collge students was also quite gratifying.
Jain Society of Metropolitan Chicago was blessed by the presence of Samniji and Guru Shree Chitrabhanuji during the celebration of Paryushan. Well over 5,000 people attended the celebration of Paryushan Mahaparv over the period of nine days. There were about 15-18 atthai including one often upvas and one of nine upvas: Dr. Nirmada Shah, 10 days; Dr. Urmila Talsanya, 9 days; Bobby Kapadia, age 16 and the son of Mr. Dipak Kapadia, 8 days, Rupesh D. Shah, age 17,8 days; Kishore C. Shah, Tyoti Shah, Rita Tagat Shah, Rallavi Desai, Lalit Shah, Rekha Gandhi, Vibhalcar Mehta, Vina V. Shah, Lata N. Shah, Kavita Doshi and Harshad Doshi each did 8 days.
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