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The Jain Center of Greater Boston is housed in a former church in Norwood, MA. |
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Some of the more than 75 volunteers who helped organize the event greet and register visitors at the temple entrance. Visitors also remove their shoes and store them in crates before entering the temple. |
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The whole temple is ornately decorated for the celebration. |
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Families gather on the left of the shrine and then circle the murti to perform the ritual bathing. |
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The center murti is the original murti from the temple that is being rededicated and placed in between the two new murtis in the shrine behind the family. |
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The three murtis in the midst of ritual installation as congregants sing and chant guided by the musical ensemble at the right. |
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The murti of Lord Adinath has been placed, while the rituals for placing the murti of Lord Mahavira (right) and for the murti of Parshvanath (center) are still underway. On the far right is the Namokar Mantra Shila (marble tablet with a sacred mantra inscribed on it). |
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Each extended family offers prayers before they begin performing their section of the ritual. Each member family takes turns in the ritual instillation of the sacred murtis their donations helped bring to America. |
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Family members wear ceremonial headdresses and garlands as well as customary cloths over their mouths which prevent the possibility of harming living creatures in the air. The Jain tradition of Ahimsa or non-violence is observed with utmost strictness on ritual occasions. |
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The family bathes the murti with a variety of liquids as part of the abhiseka. |
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To left of the shrine, a temple volunteer prepares the sacred offerings used to bathe and present to the murti during the rituals. |
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The small temple becomes very crowded with visitors. Men sit on the right side of the temple, while women sit on the left. Elderly visitors are able to sit in chairs at the rear of the temple. The ceremonies are also video taped for those who cannot fit into the main hall or attend the services. |
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In the basement of the temple, the service is broadcast on a large television so that those who cannot fit into the main hall can watch live. This broadcast is also shown outside under a canopy. |
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Two members reach to bathe the newly placed murti. |
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The new murtis are bathed with numerous substances including ghee (clarified butter) both before and after they are placed in their elaborately decorated seats known as vedis or gadis. |
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It is a great honor for Jain families to participate in these ritual ceremonies and be a part of this momentous celebration. |
