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Mahavir Jayanti
One of the most important festivals of the Jains is Mahavir Jayanti. This is the festival where the birth anniversary of Mahavira is celebrated. According to the Digambar school of Jainism, it is said that Lord Mahavira was born in the year 615 BC. However, the Swetambaras are of the view that He was born in the year 599 BC. Both the sects however agree that Mahavir was the son of Siddhartha and Trisala. It has been said that He was conceived by Devananda. He was the wife of a Brahmin named Rishabhdeva and it is said that the gods transferred the embryo to the womb of Trisala. Later, it is said that when she was carrying the baby, the mother had sixteen auspicious dreams before the child was born. Some astrologers said that the child would be either an emperor or a Teerthankar.
Mahavir Jayanti Celebrations
This event is celebrated by the Jains and this is done by going to sacred sites and worshipping the Teerthankars. People in Gujarat and Rajasthan celebrate this with a lot of pomp. There are ancient shrines at Girnar and Palitana in Gujarat and people go there to worship on the auspicious day. Mahavira Jayanti is also celebrated at Parasnath temple which is located in Calcutta. It is also celebrated at Pawapuri in Bihar.
Information About Mahavir Jayanti
Mahavira was also called as vardhamana. He is the last one in the galaxy of Twenty-four Teerthankaras and was born in the year 599 B.C. he has been acclaimed as one of the greatest prophets. He prophesized peace and social reformation.
Mahavira as a person was a person with absolute fearlessness. This earned him the name `Mahavira'. As he grow up he showed a lot of intellect. He later, renounced the pleasures and luxuries of the place. He left his kingship and did intense penance for more than twelve years. He was patient and bore everything, even the torments from the ignorant people in his country before he became self-illumined. However, he was not content with his own personal salvation.
He found that the society was corrupted by wrong versions of Dharma. There was violence in the form of animal sacrifice. He realized that spiritual values had been supplanted by superstitions. People were following lifeless rituals and dogmas. Mahavira, with his penetrating insight and his amazing self-realization attacked these things. He then made religious procedures very simple. He said that righteous conduct should be the focus.
His simple and convincing method got him a lot of followers. People followed him to a large extent. He emphasizes on `Unity of Life’. He says that this forms one of the highest saving principles of human life. The modern civilization does things to exploit the other living beings and he aimed at removing all this from the world.