________________
KENALI
KAMADHENU
Chaitra Suda 13 - 29.3.1999 happens to be the Janma Kalyanak (Birth Anniversary) of the embodiment of Ahimsa, the last Tirthankar Bhagawan Mahaveer.
This observance of the birthday as 'Janmakalyanak' is in appreciation of the one whose life was salutary to all the beings in the universe, who in his entire life of devoted pursuit only desired the welfare of the beings of this world. The birthdays of great sages are called
Janmajayantis' for they have become Siddha with no more births. Since they have liberated from the cycle of births, there is no chance of their birth date changing and hence it is also celebrated as Janma Jayanti.
The Government observes this day of Mahaveer Jayanti as Ahimsa Day. Legally no slaughter of animals is allowed on that day. As a coincidence this time, the same day happens to be Bakri-Eid. Muslim brethren following traditional Islamic tenets believe that this day they should sacrifice a goat.
When acceptance of coexistence is the foundation of religion, whether Islam accepts or not the act of sacrifice is a topic of mutual deliberation.
Allah once asked his greatest devotee Hazrat to sacrifice something that he loved most, only to test Hazrat. Hazrat loved his son Islam Alaihissalam more than his life. The devotee raised his blade to offer the son who was dear to him as his own heart in sacrifice, and there was a miracle. The blade rested on the neck of an animal in place of the son. Allah had got an angel to replace the devotee's son with an animal to avoid the son's killing. Merely on the basis of this legend or the anecdote in Islam the tradition of sacrifice has continued and today millions and millions of animals are sacrificed.
