Jain Spirit 2002 10 No 12

Author(s): Jain Spirit UK
Publisher: UK Young Jains

Page 44

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MBTEMPLE NEEDS SOUL
Vibha Shah explains how one man
transformed the local community in Mombasa
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JAIN TEMPLE IS TRADITIONALLY THE HUB OF ACTIVITY for the local community. However, as the world is changing so fast nowadays, children and young people rarely go to the temple, and even many parents do not see the relevance of the temple. They would rather spend their spare time on a golf course or worship in the sports club over a beer. For many, the temple just does not hold any attraction. The rituals are meaningless, god is stiff and silent and does not communicate, and generally only old people go there. However, the essence of Jainism is very positive, its cultural and artistic depth unique, and the central message extremely timely for the world we live in today. How do we then. transform this attitude and make the temple as vibrant? This challenge is acute in the West where there is a trend towards temple building, but very weak effort towards soul building. There are no magic formulas for this, but we do have one successful example of how a young man from India transformed the local community in Mombasa by
winning the hearts and minds of children and young adults. He is affectionately known as Hiteshbhai.
Upon landing in Mombasa from his hometown of Dubhoi in Gujarat in 1994, Hiteshbhai discovered a most beautiful temple right in the heart of the town. The Mombasa Jain Derasar was built in 1961 on two acres of land and is one of the first Jain temples to be built outside India. For decades it was the hub of the community. The founding editor of Jain Spirit, Atul Keshavji Shah, was himself 'raised in this temple' as his father was a life-long community servant there. Somehow, this spirit weakened in aloemd 8toimin
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of om of romana fubivibni sold and leve fomalo homson aids ni elsobivibal Indi svoiled 1 Hiteshbhai breathing life into the Mombasa temple with his multiple skills