Jains begin eight-day Paryushan festival amid fast and prayers

The first day of the week, which indicates more work, did not deter Jains from observing Paryushan. So, Monday the first day of Paryushan was marked by a fast and carrying out routine daily activities. With this, lakhs of Jains have taken a step towards cleansing themselves.

Just as the city was about to wake up, hundreds of Jain devotees were seen visiting different Jain upashrays around 5 am to mark the first day of Paryushan. So, hundreds of devotees thronged the upashrays across the city in the wee hours of the day as well as around 7.30 in the evening to do pratikraman (washing off one’s sins).

Incidentally, a lot of Jain professionals managed the first day with less work and more of spiritualism. Speaking to dna, businessman Chetan Shah, who is also secretary of the Jain International Trade Organisation (JITO), said: “I managed the first day by meeting very few people, unlike other days when I meet a lot of people.

Also, I had finished all the important work last week so as to have less work during Paryushan.” When questioned on how it felt like curbing hunger on the first day, Shah said: “Since it is a spiritual event, there is some force at work and we don’t feel hungry. It comes naturally as people around us like family members are also fasting. So, we do not feel like eating.”

Echoing the same, another businessman, Amar Shah, said he, too, had finished most of the work by last week.

“However, if there is some urgent work, I have asked people to visit me at home. Performing pratikraman during early morning at the upashray gave me a different level of energy and piousness,” he felt. The pratikraman, during morning and evening, will continue for eight days and coincidentally this year, Paryushan for Sthanakvaasi and Murtipoojak Jains falls during the same period, whereas the dates differ every year.

The mass Paarna will be held on the Sabarmati riverfront on September 11. Being organised by Pankaj Jain Sangh, it aims to create a record as nearly 1,350 Jains from in and around Ahmedabad are expected to take part in the event that marks the end of one’s fast. 

Kirti Shah, the trustee of Shantinath Derasar, said: “I have been observing Paryushan for the last 48 years. Since I am a businessman, I will keep my business closed on the first and last days.”