
Jai Jinendra!
JSMW celebrated Mahavir Janma Kalyanak on Sunday April 25, 2021 via live webcast.
This is a special annual festival that marks the birth of the 24th Tirthankar of the Jain religion. Enthusiastic Jains across the world celebrate Mahavir Janma Kalyanak with dances, bhajans (hymns, religious songs) and cultural programs – JSMW was no different.
The Dreams to Reality: MJK Special Edition Program was attended by about 330 Sangh families across the globe via Zoom and Youtube Live.
During the program, viewers enjoyed a variety of performances and announcements:
- Pathshala students from ages 3 and up, performing songs, dances, skits, games and more in languages ranging from English, Hindi, Gujarati!
- JSMW Members performing Rap Battle (yes, you read it right!), Dances, and Bhajans.
- Live Darshan of the current Jain Center
- Live telecast in “News Headline” format of the entire New Jain Center Site with Garba dance.
- JSMW families sharing their experience on how JSMW had started back in 1980s, evolving to a large size society, and what JSMW means to them and their families
- Special Announcements from JAINA, JYOC, YJA, and NIH Programs
The Program was coordinated by energetic hosts Bhupesh Mehta and Anupa Maru and they shared New Temple labhs as the telecast unfolded with live reports about the new Temple progress.
The walls of the sacred sections (Shankheshwar Parshwanath temple, Adinath Temple, Upashray, and Sthanak) were high and the Classrooms, Offices, Kitchen started to become visible.
Looking at the dream of their new Jain Center turning to reality, viewers poured their hearts out from across the United States to take labhs, pledge donations, and raise funds of over $400K in a matter of couple of hours.
The key labhs taken during MJK were 65 Pillars of Strength, 20 Bharai, added $100K to our Founder’s Fund, and several key Nakro items including the Adinath temple Shikhar.
JSMW Board of Trustee Chair, Dr. Atul Shah, and President Sharad Doshi highlighted the effort taken for this well-executed live program and expressed their appreciation to the MJK Leads and volunteers who tirelessly spent thousands of hours to make MJK a success. Special shoutout was given to all the Pathshala kids and teachers who were creative and excited in all their performances. If you missed the MJK for any reason, the Program will be available online soon. The physical distances did not reduce any energy of the Performers and the Society alike and we hope that next year will be an in-person celebration.
The founders of the Jain Society of Metropolitan Washington established the temple in 1980 with the objective of promoting better understanding and following of Jain principles, preserving our rich heritage, and passing it on to future generations. From the initial membership of 20 families in 1980, Jain Society membership has grown to nearly 650 families and has remained a cohesive, harmonized society. The current Jain Center is located in Silver Spring, MD and the new Jain Center is being planned on nearly 5.5 acres in Beltsville, MD. To learn more about JSMW, please visit www.www.jsmw.org or send an email to PublicRelations@jainsocietydc.org.
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