Book Title: Prabuddha Jivan 2018 11
Author(s): Sejal Shah
Publisher: Mumbai Jain Yuvak Sangh

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Page 55
________________ many sculptures were found at this destination. All sculptures were made from ashtadhatu (eight metals). This sanctum is built in the village of Kasangaon in the district of Gurgaon. 5. Sri Digambar Jain Temple, Rohtak: This temple is dedicated to Lord Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankar of Jainism. Lord Mahavira played a significant role in the reformed, organised and for the propagation of Jainism. 4. Shri 1008 Bhagwan Adinath Digambar Jain The temple has nine platforms, where sculptures were Temple, Ranila, Adinathpuram installed. This temple is associated with sect of Digambar of Jainism. ☐☐☐ 76-C, Mangal Flat No. 15, 3rd Floor, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road, Matunga, Mumbai-400019. Mo: 96193/79589/98191 79589. Email: kaminigogri@gmail.com (Bhiwani): this temple is dedicated to the Sri Adinath Bhagwan. On 18 October 1991, during excavation, a very old sculpture of Adinath was found. The uniqueness of this sculpture Adinath carved in the centre and the rest 23rd Tirthankar on three sides. Ahimsa Yatra of Chitrabhanuji Dilip V. Shah We have all loved hymn (4) - "Maitri Bhavnu Pavitra Zarnu". As if it is a Jain Anthem. We enjoy it for its melodious tune and deep religious meaning. Composed by musical duo Kalyanji Anandji and sung for the very first time by Mukesh on the chowpati beach at Mahavir Jayanti celebration in presence of crowds exceeding 100,000 more than 50 years ago. But what do we know of Chitrabhanuji - the author of that immortal song? Some remember Chitrabhanuji - Shri Chandraprabh Sagarji Maharaj- for his Mumbai discourses on "Gandharvad" during Paryushan in midsixties and others remember his enlightening columns in newspapers. Others remember him for being the first ever Jain sadhu to travel overseas and overseas Jains think of him as ambassador of Jainism to the West. Some have never forgiven him for leaving monkhood and starting a family. Here are some highlights of an extraordinary human being many consider as a man of the millennium. (This is his 97th Year) Born in Rajasthan on July 22, 1922 to Chhogalalji and Chunibai, he was named Ruprajendra. He was handsome, intelligent and a free thinker. His troubled childhood-losing his mother at the age of 4, his sister at the age of 11 and a dear friend at the age of 19 truly tortured his soul. He questioned the meaning of life from early on in his life. Latently he was becoming a Vairagi. He met and sought guidance from Shri Aurbindo in Pondechari, shri Raman Maharshi and Jain Acharyas in Palitana. He tried to join independence movement and met Subhash Chandra Bose and Gandhiji but in the end, his quest for spiritual advancement won. After graduation from college at the age of 20, he obtained permission of his father and નવેમ્બર- ૨૦૧૮ took Diksha. His father, who never married after losing his wife and devotionally raised his only child both as a father and a mother also took Diksha few months thereafter. As monks, the father and the son traveled together all over the state of Gujarat for 18 years as a guru and a disciple. During those years, our muni Maharaj studied Jain scriptures and world religions, read literature, observed silence for years and walked over 30,000 miles barefoot. In 1958, on his 37th birthday, his father died peacefully in his arms. Soon after that he started writing in Newspapers under the pen name of Chitrabhanu and moved to Mumbai - his second "Karmabhoomi". The Mumbai years were a meteoric ascendance of Chitrabhanuji as a thinker and an orator. Politicians - local and national were attracted to him. He used his popularity to lead in humanitarian work in the aftermath of devastating floods in Bihar. Harijan community in Mumbai invited to speak and after listening to him, many gave up alcohol. He became a founder president of The Vegetarian Society which is still functioning in Mumbai. He persuaded mayor of Mumbai to close slaughter houses on Mahavir Jayanti and later expanded the ban to 7 other Hindu holidays. He established "Divine Knowledge Society" to publish books in English on Jainism. He was being visited by foreign students from all over the Europe and carried back his writings to their home countries. The year 1964 was a hundredth birth anniversary of Shree Virchand R Gandhi. A Jain citizen scholar and an accomplished Barrister, who had accompanied Swami Vivekanand to the Parliament of world religions in Chicago in 1983. Although he was the first person to introduce Jainism to the west, the Jain community પ્રબુદ્ધજીવન ૫૫

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