Jains in the UK Join hands to Celebrate Mahavir Jayanti 2009

3,000 Jains from all over the UK joined hands to celebrate Bhagwan Mahavir’s birth at the Jains UK Mahavir Janma Kalyanak celebrations at Harrow Leisure Centre over the Easter weekend and left with a sense of pride, belonging, and above all an achievement. A united UK Jain community has started to take shape with an overwhelming majority of attendees wanting these celebrations to continue every year.  

The celebrations were blessed with the presence of spiritual leaders including Pujya Shri Chitrabhanuji, Pujya Jinchandra Maharaj, Samani Prasanna Pragyaji, Samani Rohit Pragyaji, Pujya Dr Kumarpal Desai, Pandit Sanjay Kumar Jain, and Pujya Hira Ratan Manek – all of whom delivered thought provoking messages and lectures about Bhagwan Mahavir’s teachings.  

Other outstanding speakers included Dr Will Tuttle, Hemal Shah, Dilip Shah from Jaina in the USA, Dr Harshadbhai Sanghrajka, Dr Vinodbhai Kapashi, Dr Natubhai Shah, Dr Atul Shah, Dr Ameet Bakhai and Nitin Mehta OBE – all of whom with many other speakers delivered a diverse range of Jain lectures and workshops in Gujarati, Hindi and English.  

One of the highlights of the two day celebration was the story of “Tyagveer Shalibhadra” – a Gujarati Play performed by young people from the Shree Chandana Vidhyapeeth. A packed auditorium enjoyed the story through music, spectacular dances, short dialogues and narrations. Another 40 young people from all over the UK participated in a spectacular culture extravaganza, showcasing dances, music, sutra recitals, drama skits and Bhagwan’s Janma Kalyanak. 

Attendees also enjoyed a diverse range of other activities including workshops on a variety of Jain philosophical subjects to healthy living – the Jain way mainly in English were available for those interested. Raj Saubhag Satsang Mandal had organised an exhibition with 90 paintings on the Life of Shirmad Rajchandra (a truly enlightened and self realised person of the 20^th century). Also film shows on his life in both English and Gujarati were arranged on both days. Institute of Jainology’s Jainpedia project of digitising Jain Manuscripts in the UK was explained with a rolling demo. There were film shows on ’27 Significant Past Lives of Bhagwan Mahavir’. 

Almost 5,000 delicious Jain Vegetarian meals were served over the two day period with hundreds of volunteers from the Jain community working hard to ensure all guests were properly looked after.  

Young people worked in conjunction with experienced community leaders to deliver creative content, the culture show and co-ordinated the workshops and keynote lectures. JAINS UK ensured that activities over the two days catered for all ages including children and young people so that the event became a family celebration. 

Pujya Jinchandra Maharaj conducted a Nav Graha Poojan for the first time in the UK with over 300 participants who were engrossed in the ritual for over four hours with total dedication.  

Dr Will Tuttle’s Piano Passion Concert was a unique example of the Jain principles and an affirmative musical prayer for world peace and for celebrating the beauty of the Earth and potential of our Spirit. Rooted in ancient sacred traditions that see music as a vehicle of consciousness, the concert generated a field of healing and insight. It included vision art by Will’s wife, Madeleine, who is a nature artist from Switzerland.  

Digambar Jain Association, London, had organized a shuttle bus service to take devotees to the Digambar Mandir from Harrow Leisure Centre and around 150 people took the trip during the weekend. 

Many Jain organisations had booked stalls to promote their own activities and stalls were also booked by other organisations that work to promote the principles of Jainism, for example the Vegatarian, Vegan and Jivdaya Societies. 

To close the celebrations in a joyous and colorful manner a Raas Garba Extravaganza – a night of fun and dancing was enjoyed by all, with music by STRINGS. 

Many Jain community leaders actively participated and provided support, guidance and help where needed. But, above all the enthusiasm of the audience provided encouragement, inspiration and motivation to JAINS UK, speakers and volunteers.  

Very positive feedback has been conveyed verbally and in writing from attendees both young and old appreciating the idea of uniting the Jain Community and the celebration of Mahavir Janma Kalyanak on one united platform.  

Prafula Shah, a member of the core committee of Jains UK, said: “This second JAINS UK Mahavir Janma Kalyanak event is a significant step towards the whole UK Jain community working together to promote Jainism and Mahavir’s teachings with a strong and united voice. We wanted to ensure the entire community, including its young people, can come together once a year to celebrate this ‘special’ day. Our journey has begun and we believe with the full support of the entire Jain community and Jain organisations, we can go forward to ensure Jainism and Bhagwan Mahavir’s unique legacy become more widely known.”