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the set date the following year. Preparations for this festival also require significant logistics and start a year in advance. Next year, it will be Ladnun, Rajasthan, where Acharya Tulsi was born and where the Jain Vishwa Bharti University is based.
I was moved by the sheer scale of the festival, its logistics and the large number of community leaders from all over India who had come here to meet and exchange experiences. Samani Pratibhapragya, the head of the UK chapter of Jain Vishwa Bharti had invited me, and it was an overnight train journey into a part of Maharashtra I had never visited. I took along with me the professional photographer Milind Khetkar from the Dinodia Picture Agency in Mumbai to take pictures and capture the spirit of the event. We arrived there on the finale of the festival, the day after which everyone would disperse and the saints would begin their walking journeys in different directions.
On reflection, the festival was like a coming together of a large family. It was a reunion, with a clear purpose - to recharge and inspire. I had the good fortune to meet the renown leader Acharya Mahaprajna and receive his blessings. I was given a slot to address the gathering, and spoke in Hindi, which generated a lot of interest and guessing as to where my accent came from! This helped me to meet some lay followers. A young family from Ghatkopar in Mumbai came there, and the children were particularly moved to see so many monks and nuns in one place. Two of the cousins were contemplating becoming monks themselves!
Having been born and raised outside India, I find it always moving to experience the sheer intensity of Jain worship and faith in India. It is on a completely different scale from the West, and something worth seeing and experiencing before we pass judgement. As it is so different, it is easy to criticise or call it 'blind' faith. However, there is often quite a lot of
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rationale behind such festivals and gatherings. We know that as individuals, we need to come together with our families to reconnect and recharge. Why not for saints or communities? Festivals have the unique ability to bring a collective force and inspiration into our lives, and it is therefore very important that we celebrate festivals in the West. If the meaning of festivals is understood, there would be even more joy in their celebration.
I was pleased to hear that at the Mahotsav it was decided to double the London contingent of samanis from two to four! This means that there would now be four samanis permanently in London to educate the community in Europe, and we have now been blessed with such eminent souls. It is our opportunity to take advantage and work with them to make it all happen.
Atul K. Shah is Executive Editor of Jain Spirit
Sureshdada Jain MP
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