Jains observed Moksha Kalyanak, the anniversary or the nirvan, or liberation, of their 24th tirthankar, Bhagwan Mahavir, on Friday.
The biggest event to mark the day was held at Pavapuri in Bihar's Nalanda district where the saint is believed to have left his footprints on a rock. The Bihar government had organised a three-day festival at the town from October 30.
Jains celebrate Moksha Kalyanak day as Diwali as Bhagwan Mahavir passed away on this day. In Mumbai, temples and homes were lit with lamps, symbolising the indestructible nature of life and light of tirthankaras, a line of preachers of which Bhagwan Mahavir was the last.
According to religious scholars, Moksha Kalyanak, also called Nirvan Diwas, is a special time when even the denizens of Naraka or hell are happy. When Mahavir passed away, a big group of followers had gathered around him. Gautam Swami, a disciple, advised the followers to light lamps to signify that though the light was gone it was still among them, said a scholar.
Jains across the country visited temples in the morning to offer 'Nirvan Ladoo', a giant sweet made of boondi that can sometimes weigh upto 10 kg as an offering to Bhagwan Mahavir. The sweet is a symbolic offering to Bhagwan Mahavir as he obtained liberation from birth forever, said Manish Modi, Jain scholar.
Saturday is also the first day of the Jain calendar, called the Veer Nirvan Samvat. The calendar began in 527 BCE and this is the beginning of the 2551th year. Modi said that the Veer Nirvan Samvat is India's oldest calendar.
Sanjay Jain, president of the Vishwa Jain Sangathan, said that the origins of the calendar were revealed in a Brahmi inscription on a stone pillar recovered in the early twentieth century from an archeological site in Badli village near Ajmer in Rajasthan. “The inscription says that the pillar was inscribed in the 84th year of Veer Samvat,” said Jain. This corresponds to 443 BCE, making 527 BCE as the Nirvan year of Mahavir.
