Jains to organise silent procession in Moodbidri on December 28 to oppose turning Sammed Shikarji into tourist destination
The Hindu
The Jain community wants to maintain the sanctity of Sammed Shikharji (Parasnath mountain), which will not be possible if the place is developed as a tourist destination
Jains will organise a silent procession from Tribhuvana Tilaka Choodamani basadi (thousand pillar Jain temple) to Swaraj Maidan in Moodbidri in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka on December 28, 2022 to express their opposition to the Jharkhand Government’s decision to convert Sammed Shikharji, a pilgrimage centre of Jains, into a tourist centre.
Addressing mediapersons in Mangaluru on December 26, former Minister K. Abhayachandra Jain said that the sanctity of Sammed Shikharji (Parasnath mountain) should be maintained. Jains are deeply concerned over the Jharkhand Government’s decision.
The silent procession is also aimed at urging the President, Prime Minister and the Jharkhand Government to withdraw the notification issued by the Jharkhand Government on developing Sammed Shikharji as a tourist centre, he said.
Mr. Jain, a former Congress MLA from Mulky-Moodbidri Assembly constituency, said that Bhattaraka Charukeerthi Pandithacharyavarya, the seer of Jain mutt in Moodbidri, and Lalithakeerthi Bhattaraka Pattacharya, the seer of Jain mutt in Karkala, Udupi district, will lead the procession. In addition, Jains will write postal inland letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, titled ‘Sammed Shikharji Bachao’, urging him to intervene in the matter and not to convert any pilgrimage centre in the country into tourist destinations.
Mr. Jain, a former Minister for Youth Empowerment, Sports and Fisheries, said that Sammed Shikharji is a place where Jain thirthankaras attained salvation. Of 24 Jain Thirthankaras, 20 attained salvation ( nirvana) in Sammed Shikarji. Thousands of Jains, including monks, visit the mountain daily covering 18 k.m. (to and fro). They have the darshana of nine ‘paadukas’ on the mountain. The local tribal people too respect the sanctity of the Jain pilgrimage centre.
The former Minister was accompanied by Pushparaj Jain, president, Mangaluru chapter of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India, and K. Krishnaprasad Hegde.
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