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પરિશિષ્ટ ૩: અખબારની નજરે પ્રતિષ્ઠા મહોત્સવ
[184] At 9-36 a.m. Maharaj Kastursurishwarji performed the installation ceremony in the central tower of the new temple. The devotees, who paid a handsome amount of Rs. 12 lakhs to earn the right of installation, performed similar ceremonies at the 52 cubicles surrounding the main tower.
The courtyard of the temple constructed on the ninth tier atop the 1600-foot Shatrunjay, was filled with the thin smoke of incense-sticks, flowers and colourfully dressed men and women. Red and white silk flags were unfurled on every cubicle and the main tower of the temple.
While the monks freely mingled with the privilleged class of about 1000 devotees who were allowed into the temple to perform the installation, nuns watched the ceremony from the first floor of the temple.
The number of devotees rose to about 25,000 today. They have come from remote corners of the country to attend the ceremony which is taking place after a lapse of some 450 years.
An endless stream of devotees, most of then barefoot, started their two-and-a-half mill climb up the mount before sunrise. A specially erected bamboo gate, covered with while cloth, marked the starting point of the holy pilgrimage. (Ahmedabad, 8-2-'76)
Amid chants of Jain Slokas and religious choir, some 525 (504) idols of Jain deities were installed yesterday here at a newly constructed temple on Mount Shatrunjay.
As the hands of clock crawled to 36 minutes after nine in the morning, Maharaja Kastursurishwarji performed the installation ceremony in the central tower of the new temple.
Red and white striped silk flags were unfurled on every cubicle and the main tower of the temple on brass poles. “Shikher”-summits carved out of stone, were also installed on the top of the sub-temples and the tower.
A marble image of Bhagwan Adinath was embedded on silver in the central tower. The sub-temples hold other Tirthankar of Jainism.
All the Dharmashalas of the town, boasting of 980 temples, known since the 12th century, have been filled up to their capacity.
The Pratistha Mahotsav, which began on January 30, has turned the town into a very active place. The programme, organised by the trust of Sheth Anandji Kalyanji is heralded by free mass feeding for the past eight days, ( Bombay, 9-2-'76)
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