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10th anniversary pratishtha mahotsava
Ten Years On
Ten years can seem a long time. For the children of Jain Samaj it is a lifetime. For students it is half a lifetime: in ten years they will be thirty, married probably, settled in their careers, but that time is distant on the horizon. For those of us who are older the years shrink and ten years is not all that long. Some things, half-forgotten, still seem long ago, but the great events of our lives are as vivid and close as yesterday. Such an event was the Pratistha of the holy images in the temple of Leicester. We remember clearly the crowds of people, literally thousands from all over the earth, Britain, Europe, East Africa, India, America. The long and stately rituals, continuing for days yet never palling: a woman said "Only once in my lifetime will I ever hear this." The solemn moment of silence before the drums crashed and the images were carried to their permanent positions. They will rest there for a thousand years. People will come into the Jain Centre from a city a thousand years older, changed by the passing centuries, unimaginable to us today, and will salute those same figures which we gazed on with reverence a mere tenth of a century ago. Ten years ago there was no other Jain temple in the Western world with consecrated images: how will it be when men and women are awaiting the twenty-second century of the Western calendar?
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Jain Education International 2010_03.
Now we are celebrating ten years since the Pratistha Mahotsava. Much has happened in those ten years. Some of those who were with us then have passed on: we remember them with gratitude and affection. Children have grown up. The passing years have left their mark on some. A new generation of leaders has emerged. But they have been years of triumph. We salute those who worked so hard and contributed in so many ways to bring all this about. We thank all those who have contributed to the activities, religious and secular, which are the essence of Jain Samaj in its home in Leicester. We greet those from other towns of Britain who are part of our own community. We welcome those, young and old, Jain and non-Jain, who are joining in the celebrations of this year, and we look forward to a future in which the Jain faith and community will continue to flourish.
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Paul Marett Honorary Life Member of Jain Samaj Europe
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