Mahavir Jayanti is a festival celebrated by the Jain community in India. Mahavir Jayanti honours the birth anniversary of the founder of Jainism, or Mahavir Janma Kalyanak, and is one of the most important holidays for the Jain community. It is celebrated to spread peace, harmony, and the teachings of Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism. A Tirthankar is the spiritual teacher of the Jain religion.
According to the Gregorian calendar, it occurs in March or April. It is also the 13th day of the Hindu calendar‘s Chaitra month. The Rath Yatra is a parade carrying the idol of Lord Mahavira that takes place during this auspicious event. Devotees also attend temples, worship Lord Mahavir, recite religious poetry, seek his blessings for a healthy and wealthy life, and participate in a variety of charitable activities to give back to society and just do good for people. They also observe a fast on this day.
On this day, people perform numerous rituals, one of which is washing Lord Mahavir’s statue with honey, water, and milk – a ceremonial bath known as Abhisheka. On this day, parents tell their children various stories about Lord Mahavir in order to honour the great prophet. His teachings are delivered in sermons as part of the Mahavir Jayanti festivities. Jains all across the world donate money, food, and clothing to the impoverished.
Jainism is said to have been founded by Lord Mahavir. On the 13th day of the brilliant half of the moon in the month of Chaitra, 599 BC, he was born in Kshatriyakund, Bihar. He was the twenty-fourth and last Tirthankar. King Siddartha and queen Trisala gave birth to him. He was born into a royal family but wasn’t appeased by the rich royal life. He was always seeking inner serenity and spirituality. Vardhaman began meditating and acquired a great interest in the essential teachings of Jainism in his early years.
He gave up the kingdom and his family at the age of 30 to pursue spiritual truth. He followed an austere life, practising hard penance and great discipline for more than twelve years before acquiring ‘Kevala Jnana,’ or omniscience. At the age of 72, Mahavira is said to have died and obtained moksha in 468 BC at a site named Pavapuri near present Rajgir in Bihar.
Lord Mahavir’s sermon included the crucial fourfold route that leads to the salvation of the human soul and liberation from all suffering. Mahavira Jayanti commemorates these principles of life taught by Lord Mahavira. He preached Ahimsa or non-harm to all living beings on Earth. Asteya, or not stealing anything is another principle followed by Jains. Brahmacharya is another route which is the practice of abstaining from sexual pleasures in order to manage one’s temperament. The last route is Aparigraha, or the refusal to acquire property, which taught non-attachment to the followers of Jainism.
It can be seen that these four variables are quite important in possibly drawing the human spirit into the dungeon of wrongdoing and sin. As a result, Mahavir proclaimed and observed as a Jain principle that a man should pursue this fourfold path with strictness in order to be rescued from the cycle of birth and reincarnation and reach salvation.
Lord Mahavir is regarded as one of the world’s greatest prophets of social transformation and peace. He followed in the footsteps of Tirthankar Parshvanatha. Lord Mahavir’s spiritual and moral excellence impacted many people not just in India, but all around the world. This is why Mahavir Jayanti is one of the most important festivals for Jains.
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