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are Arihanta enlightened souls, Siddha liberated souls, Acharya head of spiritual teachers, Upadhyayas teachers and Sadhus and Sadhvis - monks and nuns. There are idols of these Parmeshthis in the colours prescribed by the Jain scholars. One can climb inside this monument by using a spiral staircase and ring a bell of victory. There is a circular hall too, partly sunk below ground level, designed for meditation purposes only. It has the Navkar Mantra inscribed on the wall with the murtis of all Parmeshthis and Mahavir Swami in the centre. The whole ceremony took three days and involved Navkar Mantra Poojan, the Pooja of 68 letters of Navkar Mantra and the installation of various idols. During the past two years many people had written Navkar Mantra in the books provided to them. The mantra was written 6.8 million times. These hand-written books were wrapped in prescribed colours of the mantra and ceremoniously placed in the small cellar of the circular hall. The idea was to keep the positive and divine pudgalas (particles) by permanently storing the books.
The ceremonies started on 18 January 2002 and the final part of door opening was conducted on 20 January 2002. More than a thousand people participated in this unique event. All ceremonies were conducted with the blessings of many Acharyas and monks. Vajrasen Vijayji was the inspirational force behind this project. Three wellknown Jain families from the UK and East Africa performed the auspicious ceremonies. They were:
Mrs. Vijyaben Mehta, Mrs. Nishaben and Mr. Mahendra Mehta's families, Mrs. Suryakalaben,
Mr. Maganlal Motichand Chandaria, Mrs. Sumatiben and Mr. Harakhchand Nemchand Shah.
A book explaining all aspects of Navkar Mantra by Jashubhai Kapashi was released on 19 January 2002.
Jain Education International
GLOBAL NEWS
EMINENT SAINT HONOURED
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Jain monks in discussion, Ahmedabad, Gujarat major ceremony in the memory of the late Acharya Ramsoorishwarji was held at Sabarmati, Ahmedabad, India throughout February. Thousands of people attended the daily festivities which included poojas, lectures by saints, an exhibition on Jainism and Pratishta. The celebrations cost millions of rupees. Elaborate
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invitations were printed, some of them weighing over 1kg each and printed in full colour on very high quality paper. The funding for the celebrations was raised from the community and there were many poojas and gheeboli (auctions). Hundreds of monks and nuns attended the festival.
MEETING GOD-PHOTO EXHIBITION
Steve McCurry's Portraits of Worship: Personal Shrines of Hindus, Sikhs and Jains in and around New York was part of the Meeting God Exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History on 31 March 2002. The exhibition portrayed devotees at a variety of venues, from Wall Street to suburban New Jersey. Steve McCurry is one of the world's finest photographers.
June-August 2002 Jain Spirit
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