The birth anniversary of Lord Mahavir was celebrated by jains with fanfare and religious fervour in Pune. As per tradition, they took out a ‘prabhatferi’ (morning procession).
Women wore saffron attires and men white clothes in the ‘prabhatferi’. A large number of community members participated in the procession taken out with the message of “live and let live”.
On Sunday at around 7am, a grand procession was organized by the Shree Jain Community Festival Committee Pune in collaboration with all four sects of Jain Samaj and associations.
The procession commenced from the Shree Godiji Parswanath Jain Temple, Phulwala Chowk, Bohri Ali, Laxmi Road, Sonya Maruti Chowk, at 8:15am, with Honorable Mayor, Deputy Mayor, MPs, MLAs, Corporators, office bearers of various political parties, officials, social, religious, and educational dignitaries, as well as distinguished guests, offering garlands to the image of Mahavir.
The route of the procession included Shri Godiji Parshwanath Jain Temple, Bhandi Bazar, Lalbahadur Shastri Chowk, Bohri Ali, Sonya Maruti Chowk, Ganesh Peth, Govind Halwai Chowk, Burdi Bridge, Palvi Vithoba Chowk, Shri Shansveshwar Parshwanath Temple, Ramoshi Gate, Timber Market, Manmohan Parshwanath Temple, and Seven Loves Chowk, concluding at Apsara Talkies, Prabhat Press Kataria High School, Laxmi Vilas, Mukundnagar, Sujay Garden, Shivshankar Office, and Satara Road Adinath Station.
Members later reached Jain temple (Jinalaya) where they performed rituals and collectively hoisted the flag, chanted ‘Lord Mahavir’. People visited specially decorated Jain temple early morning to offer prayers.
Later, a grand shobha yatra was taken out to propagate Lord Mahavir’s message of ‘Jio Aur Jeene Do’. The idol of Shreeji was placed on a chariot. The procession was accorded floral welcome throughout the route.
Mahavir Jayanti is one of the most important religious festivals in Jainism. It celebrates the birth of Lord Mahavir, the twenty-fourth and the last Tirthankara.
