Ahmedabad: An eight-day mega Jainism meet that concluded on April 3 at a western Indian town has asked its followers to avoid pompous religious events, teach the religion at schools and take up public roles.
These were among several guiding directives the March 26-April 3 meet issued through more than 40 resolutions.
The meet, Shree Tapagachchiya Shraman Sammelan, or gathering of saints, brought together 18 sects of Shvetambara Jainism after 28 years and addressed several common issues facing one of the ancient religions of India.
More than 2,500 monks and nuns participated in the event at Palitana, a town in the Bhavnagar district of Gujarat state. Thousands of Jains from India and abroad also attended. The Acharya of all the 18 sects along with senior office bearers of Sheth Anandji Kalyanji Pedhi attended the meet. The meet was endorsed by more than 7,800 monks and nuns from across India, The Times of India reported.
The meet also decided to provide addition attention to ancient religious places without unnecessary revamp, set up educational and research institutes for Jainism to identify its ancient pilgrim spots, provide alternative to the idols kept in areas where Jains no longer live and stop building new tirtha (pilgrimage site) on highways.
It also urged its followers to use technology for digitizing information from various scripture repositories in India.
The meet also unanimously decided to prevent the current custom of bringing body of monk, nuns and teachers to a specific place for last rites. The acharya decided to perform the last rites at the nearest place, reducing use of the vehicles for transport.
To avoid increasing incidents of highway accidents involving Jain monks and nuns, the meet decided to provide guidelines such as walking on the wrong side, avoiding very early hours and taking help of volunteers and police while needed.
The Sunday celebrations started with a major procession from Kesariyaji Dharmashala to Parna Bhavan in Palitana where the meet was convened.
The Shvetambara (white-clad) is one of the two main sects of Jainism, the other being the Digambara (sky-clad).
The ascetics of Shvetambara wear white clothes, while Digambara ascetics go naked. Śhvētāmbaras, unlike Digambaras, do not believe that ascetics must practice nudity.
The Śhvētāmbara tradition follows the lineage of Acharya Sthulibhadra Suri. The Kalpa Sūtra mentions some of the lineages in ancient times. The Śvētāmbara monastic orders are branches of the Vrahada Order, which was founded in 937 CE. The most prominent among the classical orders today are the Kharatara (founded 1024 CE), the Tapa (founded 1228 CE) and the Tristutik.