Jain Spirit 2005 06 No22

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

Page 25

community news
Muscat, Oman
Bhairavi doing Pooja (Photo supplied by Bhairavi Akshay Kothari)
Bhairavi Kothari also wanted to share with us her community's news. Jain Spirit was so happy to receive this letter we would like to encourage all of you to send in snaps and information on your community, no matter how small. We love to hear readers taking pride in their community. Why not do the same? After all it's your magazine!
Dear Jain Spirit,
My name is Bhairavi Akshay Kothari and I live in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman which is 4 hours drive from Dubai. I am a Deravasi Jain and reading your magazine prompted me to write to you and share a few thoughts.
In Muscat there are 30 deravasi Jain houses and around 120 stanakvasi houses and when we all get together the total amounts to 400 people.
Every alternate Friday, meditation (Samayak) is conducted and both men
Jan Education International
and women participate. The women have formed a ladies mandal where they meditate from 10.30 to 12 once a week. Every Friday from 11 to 12.30, children's classes (pathshala) are conducted and around 50 kids participate. We give gifts of encouragement for well spoken sutras and general knowledge on Tirthankars and Jainism.
Last year, on 26th April 2004 Parshwanath Bhagawan's chal pratishta was held. It is the first kind to happen in Oman. For it, a 3 day mahotsav was conducted. Shree Chitrabhanu's student or shishya had come to do the pratishta. Everyone participated and the kids got to learn and understand more about their faith, as it is sometimes harder for them living outside India.
Our festival of renewal, Paryushan, is held with great enthusiasm. Lots of different types of fasting are done. For Mahavir Jayanti we chose to celebrate For Personal & Private Use Only
COMMUNITY NEWS
on a Friday as it is a holiday in the Gulf so the maximum amount of people can participate. We read Mahavir's life story from the Kalpasutra and sweets are given out.
Different sorts of worship such as the Snatra puja, navpad ji ni puja are held at least once a month in one of the houses of our deravasi Jains, whoever wishes to have it! Everyone, including children, come in. It starts at 10 in the morning and we sing and play with all different sorts of instruments until 3 when we all have lunch. Everyone enjoys and learns a lot!
I could tell you so much more but that is enough for now! Please put this in your magazine so people all over the world
can read it.
Jai Jinendra
Bhairavi Akshay Kothari
www.JAINSPIRIT.COM
23