GEARING UP: Members of a folk troupe rehearsing for a programme to be held during the Mahamastakabhisheka at Navagraha Tirtha, Varur near Hubli, on Saturday. Seen in the background are the 61-ft monolithic statue of Bhagavan Parshwanath Teerthankar a nd statues of other teerthankars

HUBLI: Preparations are in full swing for the 12-day Panchakalyan Pratisthapane and Mahamastakabhisheka of Bhagavan Parshwanath at Navagraha Tirtha at Varur near Hubli, scheduled to begin from January 15.

Around two lakh people from across the country are expected to attend the religious ceremony, which will be inaugurated by former Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani on Monday. Devotees from Jain communities have started reaching Varur.

Navagraha Tirtha has the highest monolithic statue (61 feet, 185 tonnes) of Bhagavan Parshwanath Teerthankar in the Khadgasana Mudra mounted on a 48-ft pedestal and eight statues of other teerthankars mounted on planet-like structures.

Work on Navagraha Tirtha had begun two years ago and the carving of the monolithic statue and other statues alone had taken a year's time. The work is being supervised by Sri Gunadhar Nandi Maharaj, helped by Sri Dharmasena Bhattaraka swamiji and hundreds of volunteers with donations from philanthropists.

Final touches are being given to the statues for the mega event.

Accommodation

Arrangements have been made for providing accommodation to the devotees. Sri Dharmasena Bhattaraka swamiji told The Hindu that nearly 1,000 tents were erected for accommodating people from other States.

As many as 13 committees had been formed to take care of various arrangements of the Mahamastakabhisheka that would be held on January 25 and 26 for which flowers from nine countries were being brought, the swamiji said.

On all the days of the mega religious event, various religious rituals would be carried out culminating in the Mahamastakabhisheka.

Discourses

Apart from Jain munis and sadhwis, seers of various maths, including seers of Pejawar Math, Gadag and Chitradurga would deliver discourses during the 12-day event.

Graha dosha

According to the belief of Jains, each of these teerthankars have the power to remove the "graha dosha". Accordingly, the statues have been mounted on respective planet-like structures that the teerthankars represent at the Navagraha Tirtha.

Bhagavan Padmaprabhu (Sun), Bhagavan Chandraprabhu (Moon), Vasupujya (Mars), Mallinath (Mercury), Mahaveer (Jupiter), Pushpadanta (Venus) Munisruvata (Saturn) and Neminatha (Rahu) have been installed. Bhagavan Parshwanath Teerthankar is believed to have the power to remove the dosha caused by Ketu.

Work at Navagraha Tirtha, a brainchild of Acharya Gunadhar Nandi and spread over 40 acres of land at Varur adjacent to Pune-Bangalore Highway, is not yet over.

Pilgrim centre

The swamiji has plans to construct "tirtha kundas" and other structures that would convert the place into an important pilgrim centre for Jains.

While Mahamastakabhisheka will be held at Shravanabelagola once in 12 years, the same would be conducted at Navagraha Tirtha, Varur, once after nine years, nine months and nine days.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail