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The Unknown Pilgrims
however, delegate a muni or a sadhvi to replace him.44 No ācārya has the right to accept a candidate for dikṣā without the permission of her parents or without having consulted the samgha at various levels. However, the validity of the dikṣā depends on the ācārya's approval, he being the highest religious authority.
Procession 45
460
It is nine o'clock in the morning and the girl, wearing a magnificent silk sädi (säri), her long hair falling loose, her neck adorned with a gold chain and her arms covered with bracelets, is to be seen standing in a horse-drawn vehicle, a slowly-advancing open carriage. With a majestic gesture she flings grains of rice to right and to left.46 In the same carriage three young women from among her relatives, clothed in red, stand beside her. One holds a large brass jar decorated with a śvastika and filled with pure water that will be used for the tonsure, while of the other two one carries the vastras carefully wrapped and the other the rajoharaṇa and the pătras. A dense throng, quiet for the most part, follows the carriage and, on all floors of the houses bordering the route, spectators are to be seen, watching the procession go by. Perfect orderliness is ensured through the good offices of men, young people, women and girls wearing a green badge. They direct the people walking in the procession in such a way that at the entrance to the mandapa47 men take up their positions on one side and women on the other.
44 Cf. Hukarnadevi, p. 103 where the guruni is mentioned as presiding over a dikṣā.
45 Samyama-yātrā.
46 The grain of rice used for religious ceremonies, e.g. for pūjā in the temple, is called akṣata, lit. whole, undivided. It is a substance of good omen which does not disintegrate and its whiteness is a sign of purity.
47 Maṇḍapa: a huge rectangular-shaped tent which serves to accomodate a crowd and shield it from sun, rain or cold. The mandapa is also used for receiving wedding-guests, for meetings, political gatherings and conferences. The Sthanakavasis and Terapanthis celebrate dikṣās under a maṇḍapa, the Mūrtipujakas at a temple.
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