Hansratna Vijayji Maharaj, the Jain monk who completed his 423 days of fasting in a period of 494 days, broke his fast on Sunday with a celebration that saw thousands of Jains attend the event.

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The feat that was achieved after a gap of 2,500 years in the Jain history saw Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis attend the event, besides the heads of all Jain monks in India, Tapagachhadhipati Acharya Premsuriswarji Maharaj.

Besides charity, some demands were placed by the Jain sadhus in front of the government and the community. Rs 51 lakh was donated towards the Chief Minister's relief fund by a family that had taken on itself all the expenses of the event. Another Rs 1 crore was given towards Jivdaya, a community project that take care of animals.

Jain sadhus speaking at the event demanded that the government must scrap the idea of introducing sex education in schools. "We would like if the CM to declare that the state government will not consider it at all," said Acharya Ratnasundersuri Maharaj, while talking at the event. The CM, however, did not promise anything but said the proposal was with the government.

Another prominent monk who spoke was Naypadmagasrji Maharaj, the founder of Jain International Organisation. Claiming to have studies that proved that crime rate in Chicago in the US came down after slaughter houses were removed, he asked Jains to vote for vegetarians. "Natural disasters happen due to slaughter houses. It is important that they are shut. Shivajimaharaj's guru Ramdas, too, advocated a vegetarian life. Jains should vote only for Jains or vegetarians," said Naypadmasagar.

The fast

For the first month, the person is supposed to fast one day and eat the next day. He can eat only twice in a day. In the second month, fasting has to be done for two days with one day of eating. Gradually, the number of fasting days are increased. On days of fasting, only boiled water can be had between sunrise and sunset.