By Nischal Sanghavi

After remaining closed since March 22, the Jain temples had opened for darshan last month; ‘kesar puja’ to be allowed from Friday

Devout Jains have a reason to cheer. After several months of remaining off limits for puja, the Jain temple complex in Palita is all set to allow the ‘kesar puja’ at the temple from February 12.

AD Shah, manager at the Kalyanji Anandji trust which manages the temples, said, “Over 10 months ago, darshan and puja at the Palitana temples was stopped on March 22 due to the lockdown. Among Jains, there is a ritual of performing ‘Kesar Puja’ of the shrine, wherein the devotees apply kesar at nine points of the Tirthankar shrine using different fingers. However, not everyone who comes for darshan opts for this puja as it requires them to take bath and wear a special attire.”

He added that while darshan had been resumed about a month ago, the general public will be allowed to perform the puja Friday onwards. However, they will be allowed to apply kesar only on the forehead, using their right thumb.”

Bhavesh Shah, regional representative of the trust at Ahmedabad office, said, “A devotee needs to climb 3,800 steps to pray at the top shrine of Lord Adishwar, a Jain Tirthankar. Before lockdown, an average of 2,000 people used to visit Palitana daily. The number increases on Poonam and festivals. Of these, around 500 used to perform the puja. Currently, we receive around 800 people a day. We expect around 100 passes to be issued for the puja. The ‘snana gruh’ where the devotees bathe have also been opened from today. Only 11 passes will be issued for the entire Puja, which would be given to the family that takes the ‘ghee’ after making the donation for that day. The visitors will have to stand in a queue and maintain social distancing. The food centre, where they are provided ‘Bhata’ will be opened on 23rd”.

Palitana holds immense significance for the Jain community. The mountain in Palitana has over 900 Jain temples and is part of the Shatrunjaya hills with over 3,000 temples. The temples are believed to have been built over 900 years ago.