Fervour, gaiety mark Mahavira Jayanti in Chandigarh tricity

Mahavira Jayanti, the birthday of Lord Mahavira, the 24th and last “tirathankar” in the Jain religion, was celebrated with traditional fervour and enthusiasm across tricity and its neighbouring areas today.

Special religious congregations were organised at the Jain Sthanaks in Sector 18, and Sector 27 in Chandigarh and other tricity areas to mark the occasion.

Several prabhat pheris, meanwhile, were also taken out early in the morning.

On the occassion, Jain saints highlighted episodes from the life and preaching of Lord Mahavira. They urged the people to imbibe and spread the eternal message of peace, non-violence and salvation of Lord Mahavira to every nook and corner of the world.

They further said India had emerged as a votary of non-violence by achieving freedom through non-violent means.

The celebrations, which also saw a variety of colourful cultural programmes based on the life and teachings of Lord Mahavira, concluded with the holding of a community kitchen.

Meat shops stay open despite directive

A majority of tricity’s meat shops operated as usual on Mahavira Jayanti despite a directive against it imposed by the administrations. The Jain community has expressed resentment and ire against the administrations for not understanding the “sensitivity and significance” of the occasion. A roadside meat shop owner in Vikas Nagar said he was unaware of any such order and it was business as usual. SS Jain Sabha spokesperson Rakesh Kumar Jain, while strongly objecting to the open slaughtering and sale of meat and eggs today, termed it as a “real shame” on the part of administrations, who failed to implement their orders.