Viewing archives for Jain

10th April 2025

Jain

This is a festival celebrating the birth in 540, 599 or 615 BCE of Mahavira, the last Tirthankara, the greatest teacher and model for all Jainas. The events surrounding his birth are retold and re-enacted at all Jain temples. If monks or nuns are present, they will read from the scriptures and teach about the rest of Mahavira’s life. The day is marked with processions, the sending of cards, and the bathing of images of Mahavira. At the end of the day lay people will return home to a celebratory feast with distinctive recipes.

Mahavira’s injunctions for the monks and nuns were however very exacting. Abstinence from every kind of physical comfort and material possession and absolute dedication to the highest ethical and spiritual discipline were enforced. Even today this pure and upright tradition of the monks has been maintained. Thousands of white clad Sanyasins and Sanyasinis and also nude monks move on foot from village to village and town to town, throughout the length and breadth of the country, carrying Mahavira’s gospel of peace, non-injury and brotherhood among people.

Myths and legends abound about the other twenty four great Jain teachers from previous ages, but the birth of Mahavira, the Conqueror, is of central importance in Jain communities everywhere. His influence on the Jain practices of ahimsa (non-violence to others), sharing of knowledge, donating medicines and food, and caring for all living creatures is clearly apparent throughout these celebrations.

9th August 2025

Hindu /Jain

This festival takes place on the full moon of the month of Shravana. Raksha means ‘protection’ and bandhan means ‘to tie’. Girls and married women in families which come from a north Indian background tie a rakhi (amulet) on the right wrists of their brothers, wishing them protection from all sorts of evil influences of various kinds. The brothers in return promise to protect their sisters and offer them gifts and sweets. This ritual not only strengthens the bond of love between brothers and sisters, but also reinforces the unity of the family.

Rakhis are traditionally simple, colourful bracelets made of interwoven red and gold threads. Some of them feature precious silk, beautifully crafted with gold and silver threads, embroidered with sequins and studded with semi-precious stones.

The key to understanding Raksha Bandhan is to know that it is marked by happiness and excitement, especially for young girls and women. Preparations for the festival begin well in advance. Then, on the Raksha Bandhan day, the festivities start at day break. Everyone is ready early and they gather for the worship of the deities. After invoking the blessings of the gods, the sister performs ‘brother’s arti’, puts a tika on his forehead and ties her rakhi amidst the chanting of mantras. Then she gives him sweets and gifts. The brother accepts her offerings and vows to take care of her and be by her side in the time of her need. As a token he gives the sister a return gift and sweets. The family reunion itself is sufficient reason for celebrations, marked by . Tasty dishes, sweets, gifts, song and dance.

This is a universal opportunity for reunion and celebration. People exchange gifts and share exotic dishes and wonderful sweets. For those who are not able to meet each other, rakhi cards, e-rakhis and rakhis sent by post perform alternative ways of communicating the rakhi messages. Handmade rakhis are bought and sold, and homemade rakhi cards are increasingly frequent. It is typically a Hindu festival but nowadays people from different faiths celebrate it too.

No Hindu festival is complete without these typical Indian festivities, the gatherings, celebrations, exchange of sweets and gifts, lots of noise, singing and dancing. Raksha Bandhan has now become a regional celebration of just this sort to celebrate the sacred relationship between brothers and sisters. It is celebrated in different forms in different areas of India and is also known by different names. So. for example, in western Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa, Hindus offer coconuts to the sea god, Lord Varuna, and the festival is accordingly called Nariyal Purnima, coconut full-moon.

Throughout the country, but especially in north and western India, females tie rakhis around the wrists of boys and men who have no sisters. A man might acquire a sister who in every respect is such except in biological fact; or a woman may tie a rakhi around the wrist of her male first cousin who is without sisters. Indian texts are replete with the observation that men should look upon women as their sisters and mothers.

21st – 28th August 2025

Jain

These are eight days of purification, devoted to study, prayer, meditation and fasting, and ending with a period of confession and forgiveness. Often monks will be invited to give teachings from the Jain scriptures. Paryushana means ‘to stay in one place’, which signifies a time of reflection and repentance. Originally the practice was monastic for the most part.

21st October 2025

Jain

Divali has a special significance for Jains, as on this day in 527 BCE Mahavira gave his last teachings and at midnight attained ultimate liberation. Today temples and shrines are decorated, often with toys and images of animals, and Jains meditate on the teaching he gave on this day. Many devout followers fast for the two days of Divali, following the example of Mahavira. Lamps are lit and children are given sweets by their parents, though the songs, dances and noise of Hindu celebrations are not common amongst the Jain communities. Jain business people traditionally start their accounting year from the day after Divali.

The examples set by Mahavira and his teachings are central to all Jain belief and practice, so Divali is a time for meditation and penance, and for generously caring for all living beings. The focus of meditation is usually based on his last discourse, which became famous as the Uttaradhyayan Sutra, sometimes known as the Vipak Sutra, which has become seminal for much of Jain teaching and belief.

22nd August 2025

Jain

This is the last day of the eight day festival of Paryushana, which many regard as the most important festival of Jainism. It is the holiest day of the Jain calendar and many Jains observe it as a complete fast. The entire day is spent in prayer and contemplation, and it climaxes in the evening when people ask for forgiveness from others – and from all living creatures – for any hurt they have knowingly or unknowingly caused during the previous year.

The role of a festival such as Samvatsari involving fasting, whether partial or total, along with a request for forgiveness, is a widespread feature of religious practice (cf for example Pavarana Day, Yom Kippur, Ramadan and Lent), and is a natural and universal element of annual observance in all Jain traditions.

Leviticus 16:4-34, 23:27-32.