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JAIN DIGEST .. May 2011
Swami Vivekananda (Center) and Shri Virachand Raghavji Gandhi (Far Right) part of Inidan spritual deligation to World Parliament
of Religions in Chicago in 1893. brought the flag of Jainism and eastern human values to North America (NA). A replica of a Jain temple was constructed at the St. Louis World Fair in 1904-5 and the remains of that structure are currently located in Jain Society of Southern California. Though the fascination for eastern spirituality in USA began in the early part of the twentieth century, immigration to NA from India prior to 1965 was minuscule and isolated, with some traces of NA Jain families going back to 1944. (The exception was the large contingent of Sikh farmers and laborers who migrated to western USA during the period 1899-1914). With
Chatrabhanuji's Lectures in 1970 -helped create a distinct identity of North American
Jains. members started migrating to USA, and with that also started the significant migration of Jains in NA. The early Jain communities mostly celebrated the religious festivals jointly with their Hindu counterparts, a tradition that is followed even today in many smaller metropolitan cities of NA. The formation of Jain Center of America in New York in 1966 and the visit backed by a series of lectures of Gurudev Shri Chitrabhanuji in 1970 saw the beginnings of a distinct identity of the Jain community shaping up in NA. This landmark event was followed by the visit of Acharya Sushil Kumarji in 1973, which in many respects contributed to the building of the spiritual foundation of Jainism in NA. Soon after 1970, various local Jain societies were formed in different cities. The NA Jain community had its first convention in Los Angles in 1981 and JAINA was established in 1983. Since its formative years, the Jain Society of North America has taken several steps over the past few decades in bringing the Jain community together, centered on the preaching of Bhagwan Mahavir:
It has taken advantage of the rich traditions of building dedicated places of Worship. Preaching of the Jain philosophy has been supported actively by the visits of various Jain monks and scholars from India. Jain society has taken various steps to promote the education of Jain philosophy targeted to different age and social groups.
Recent Ashtapadji Pratishtha at New York at the center that was established in USA in 1966
the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Services (INS) Act of 1965 large number of Indian
professional, businesspersons and family Jain Education Intenational
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