VMPL
Mumbai (Maharashtra), [India], September 4: Shrimad Rajchandra Mission Dharampur will observe Paryushan Mahaparva 2026 in Mumbai from 8 to 15 September, at the Dome, SVP Stadium in Worli, in the presence of its founder, Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshji.
The eight-day Jain festival will be observed at the Dome, SVP Stadium, Worli, in the presence of Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshji, ahead of his sixtieth birth anniversary later in the month.
Paryushan Mahaparva is the most significant observance in the Jain calendar. It is observed during the lunar months of Shravana and Bhadrapada and runs for eight days in the Shvetambara tradition, closing on Samvatsari, which falls this year on 15 September.
Sessions in Mumbai will run twice daily for the full eight days. Mornings will open with a Snatra Puja on the main stage, followed by a discourse from Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshji on the Chapter on Liberation from the Natak Samaysaar. Evenings will carry a second discourse, on Patrank 816 of the Shrimad Rajchandra Vachanamrut, the collected writings of Shrimad Rajchandra. The discourses will be delivered primarily in Gujarati.
The eight days build towards Samvatsari, which carries the annual Alochana, a formal review of one’s own conduct over the preceding twelve months. The day closes with Micchami Dukkadam, in which forgiveness is sought from every living being one may have harmed by thought, word or deed, whether directly or indirectly, and whether knowingly or unknowingly.
In the teaching of Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshji, forgiveness is understood as a discipline rather than a sentiment. Holding a grievance requires nothing of a person, while releasing one requires the surrender of a self-image built on having been wronged. It is for this reason that the seeking of forgiveness comes at the close of eight days of preparation rather than at their beginning.
The Mumbai observance opens a significant month for the Mission. Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshji was born in Mumbai on 26 September 1966 and turns sixty this month. The anniversary will be marked on 25 and 26 September at the Jio World Convention Centre, BKC, at a gathering titled Aho Gurudev, 60 Years of an Enlightened Existence.
About Shrimad Rajchandra Mission Dharampur
Shrimad Rajchandra Mission Dharampur was founded by Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshji and takes its philosophical basis from the teachings of Shrimad Rajchandra, the nineteenth-century Jain poet, philosopher and reformer whom Mahatma Gandhi described as a formative spiritual influence in his early adulthood. Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshji completed doctoral study on Shrimad Rajchandra’s Atmasiddhi.
The Mission began in Mumbai. The Shrimad Rajchandra Ashram at Dharampur, in Gujarat’s Valsad district, was established in 2001 and serves as its international headquarters. The Mission operates across six continents.
Its service arm, Shrimad Rajchandra Love and Care, runs more than fifty projects across healthcare, education, women’s empowerment, tribal development and animal welfare, now operating in several countries. It has held Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council since 2020. Shrimad Rajchandra Hospital and Research Centre at Dharampur, which opened in 2004 with forty beds, today operates as a 250-bed multi-specialty charitable hospital inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2022.
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