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GLOBAL NEWS
FANGUNI PATEL
TALLEST EVER JINA STATUE UNVEILED
India's tallest ever statue of a jina was unveiled in a grand inauguration ceremony on 22 February 2003, in the Gujarati town of Ballabhipur, near the famous Jain pilgrimage site of Palitana. The 23 feet tall marble statue depicts the first Jain Tirthankara, Adinath Bhagwan (also known as Rishabdev), in a sitting position known as padmasan mudra. As the centre-piece of a major new Jain temple and pilgrimage destination called Ayodhyapuram, the statue was inaugurated with great celebration, drawing in tens of
thousands of Jains and other well- wishers in the weeks leading up to the unveiling ceremony. The inauguration ceremony was conducted by Acharya Shri Jin Sagar Ji and Acharya Shri Hem Chandra Sagar Ji, the two Jain monks who have been the spiritual force behind Ayodhyapuram.
In the weeks leading up to the inauguration ceremony, Ayodhyapuram welcomed hundreds of Jain monks and nuns from all over India, as well as thousands of lay people, who had the opportunity to interact with the monks
and nuns. During these weeks. Ayodhyapuram's brand new pilgrimage facilities were much admired and enjoyed by the thousands who visited: the site includes plentiful accommodation, prayer halls, dining hall and a magnificent main temple, at the centre of which sits the 23 feet tall Adinath Bhagwan. As you can see from the pictures here, the preparations (above) and celebrations (below) surrounding the inauguration of the statue were vibrant and colourful, attracting huge, enthusiastic crowds.
JAMES MATURIN-BARD
SCIENTIST RECEIVES $1 MILLION TEMPLETON PRIZE
The Templeton Prize for Progress Toward Research or Discoveries about Spiritual Realities was awarded to Holmes Rolston III in March 2003. The prize forms part of an annual investment into spirituality by the Templeton Foundation, established to encourage the quest for knowledge at the boundary between scientific and religious perspectives. This award marks the 30th such prize to be awarded since the first was given to Mother Teresa in 1973.
Holmes Rolston III is Professor of Philosophy at Colorado State University
Holmes Rolston once said "Our planetary crisis is one of
spiritual information: not so much sustainable development, certainly not escalating consumption, but using the earth with justice and charity. Science cannot take us there, religion perhaps can. After we learn altruism for each other, we need to become altruists to our fellow creatures. We must encounter nature with grace, with 'an earth ethic', because our ultimate environment is God - in whom we live, move and have our being." It is perhaps easy to forget in an age of information, where technology is often exalted as king, that the space between the religious and scientific perspective can and must be bridged.
June - August 2003 Jain Spirit 7
Jain Education Interational 2010_03
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