The Bhagwan Mahavir Jain Relief Foundation Trust is launching a new dialysis centre at the Kumudini Devi Out Patient Block in Ramdev Rao Hospital. The commissioner of GHMC and Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan will be inaugurating the hospital and centre.

The new dialysis centre, located in Hyderabad, will cover an area of 5000 sq. ft. with 24 state of the art dialysis stations, which will cater to the needs of patients who cannot easily access such treatments. Twelve new dialysis machines will be set up in the centre for which donors covered the costs. Many people in the area are excited for this dialysis centre and when spoken to showed much appreciation by the Bhagwan Mahavir Jain Relief Foundation Trust as this centre was much needed.

Three months forward, an additional fifteen, dialysis machines will be set up at the King Koti District Hospital. With this addition the total number of machines will add up to 39 machines in one centre-the first centre of have such a high number in all of India.

Philanthropists have raised all funds for the trust.

Somaiya Vidyavihar

By Vinay Maurya and Vikram Kamble

(CHAKRA) As Jainism encourages spiritual development through cultivation of one’s own personal wisdom and reliance on self control through vows, Somaiya has taken a step further as a part of their teaching and educating students through Jain philosophy.

The book “Various facets of Saman Suttam” will be released on 24th May, 2012 at Somaiya Vidyavihar Campus. Padmashri Dr Kumarpal Desai, who is a reputed writer of inspirational, spiritual and value enriched literature at the international level, will be the Chief Guest for the event. At the same time under graduate international school students from universities of Dayton, Georgia Southern & Virginia Commonwealth will be arriving at K J Somaiya for Summer school workshop starting from 25th May-29th May, 2012 in collaboration with International School of Jain Studies. This programme is conveyed by K J Somaiya Centre for Studies in Jainism, students are to attend the six days workshop followed by the various sessions on Jain philosophy by faculty members from Somaiya.

The book “Various facets of Saman Suttam” would be most helpful to educate the students of Somaiya on their ongoing certificate and diploma courses in Jain Philosophy and religion at Somaiya Centre for Studies in Jainism.

“Samana Suttam” was released on the occasion of Lord Mahavira’s 2500th Nirvana Anniversary as a result of efforts undertaken by Acharya Vinoba Bhave. The book “Samana Suttam”, that is, sayings of Sramans – Jain seers, is a collection of 756 verses divided into different parts. The book can be taken as the quintessence of Jainism. Acharya Vinoba Bhave keenly desired that on the basis of Jaina Agamas there should be a book which is accepted and endorsed by all the four sects of Jainas. Such a book should include the entire Jaina code of conduct, philosophy and Vision. The Jaina Principles of Ahimsa, Aparigraha and Anekantavada should be presented before the whole world. He appealed to Jaina Acharyas, monks and scholars to pursue the matter.

Somaiya Vidyavihar, founded in 1959 by Padmabhushan (late) Shri K.J. Somaiya, is part of the Somaiya Group. The core values of our Founder, namely Integrity, Honesty, Philanthropy and Social Awareness, are strongly ingrained in every thread of the group fabric. Somaiya Vidyavihar was set up with the aim to provide value based holistic education to the youth of India.

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Sikhism, Jainism, Hinduism, & Buddhism delegates offer prayers

USA - Hindu American Seva Charities (HASC) again made history, co-hosting with The White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Agencies and the White House Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships an historic conference, Community Building in the 21st Century with Strengthened Dharmic Faith-Based Institutions for the Dharmic (defined as ,Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, Sikh) Religious Leaders. HASC partnered with many Buddhist, Hindu, Jain and Sikh organizations, including the Council of Hindu Temples, Federation of Jain Associations of North America, Soka Gakkai International-USA Buddhist Association and others to create a coalition that can reach deliver collaborative solutions and services to benefit the communities around us while promoting better understanding of our beliefs, cultures and values.

In his opening remarks, Paul Monteiro, Associate Director, White House Office of Public Engagement observed that the Dharmic-American community is interested in all the same issues that everyone is interested in – healthcare, security, education, etc. He encouraged the participants to follow up this conference with action, saying “the real measure of this conference’s success will be in how much more engaged in service the dharmic communities become in the months ahead.”

“In America, our collective faith infrastructures (temples, ashrams, and meditation and yoga studios) are in early stages of development. The Dharmic Americans, mostly post 1964 immigrants, are just becoming part of the mosaic of the pluralistic landscape of America. …As we see it, in America, the seva movement is a tool for social justice, a way to deal with community issues. The eastern Dharmic traditions share many commonalities and have infrastructure gaps. We are trying to understand how can we engage with each other collectively, what are our issues? How can more of us engage with the administration?” said Anju Bhargava of HASC, lead organizer of the event. “We hope this will be the first step in the Dharmic community coming together to explore and identify common ground and building a coalition that will strengthen each other and our nation.”

Asim Mishra, Acting Chief of Staff of Corporation for National Community Service emphasized, “service as a strategy is not service for the sake of service only; it has to be a credible way of solving problems in communities. We need to broaden the reach to address priority issues – economy, education, veterans and disaster relief. Serve America Act makes service a larger part of the national fabric. VISTAs and Americorps, Teach for America are funded through CNCS.”

Senator Harris Wofford, advisor to Martin Luther King and the pioneering force behind the creation of Peace Corps spoke of the profound contribution that Hindu spirituality made to the US Civil Rights movement said, “I am experiencing public happiness at this gathering, to see the pursuit of self-government, ‘Svaraj’ as they would say in India. When I was 12 years old I went to India. In 1938, I saw Gandhi in Mumbai. I started with Kennedy in D.C. and subsequently went to India through the Peace Corps. After college I got a Fullbright scholarship and went with my wife for one year to pursue the ideals of Gandhi—and wrote a book about him [. . . ]I came back and joined the civil rights movement, and brought Gandhi-ism to America [. . .] This room, where the conference is being held, is the Indian Treaty room, where many things have happened – and history can be made here with this Dharmic undertaking. A follower of Gandhi said that the two great idea ideas of the 20th century were from Einstein and Gandhi. Einstein showed how to access tremendous physical energy through splitting the atom; Gandhi taught us how to crack the atom of people power. The diaspora power of India is great.

Ambassador Cahill, former Counsel General in India, stated, “If there is any strong force in the world, it is individuals who are committed, and faith based organizations have particular strength. We as individuals we can do so much, sometimes more than big
organizations.”

During a session with Rev. Suzan Johnson Cook, United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, concerns were raised about the condition of religious minorities (particularly Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist) in Pakistan and Bangladesh, as well as the plight of Buddhists in South-east Asia and Tibet. Dr. Siva Subramanian, HASC Board Member called on the ambassador to bring the US Dharmic community to the table so they can work more closely with her in addressing their concerns

Other topics of focus for the participants were the serious challenges being faced by Burmese and Bhutanese refugees in America; the networking of dharmic community resources for disaster response and in support of anti-terrorism efforts; the support of religious literacy programs in the public schools and providing much needed support for dharma-based members of the US Armed
Forces.

Eskinder Negesh indicated his Office of Refugee Resettlement, has settled 60,000 Burmese and Bhutanese refugees in the past two years. He expressed concern about the high rate of suicide among the Bhutanese refugees and welcomed the Dharmic group to work with him to get to the roots of the issues, just as HASC has assisted with this research on Bhutanese refugees for the past two
years.

Homeland Security representatives emphasized that government depends on the communities for help in response and recovery. Dharmic members serve on the Council and DHS expressed an interest in increasing the two-way information sharing in faith based communities, recognizing the importance of protection of places of worship through information sharing. DHS is working together to keep communities safer. Public engagement can be enhanced with the “See something, Say something campaign,” especially with
the Dharmic community.

Kenneth Bedell, Policy Advisor, shared the announcement of Together for Tomorrow, a program initiated by the Department of Education and White House Faith OFBNP to re-emphasis the idea that education is not just the responsibility of the teachers, schools or parents, but of the whole community, including the students). Communities can come together using their resources in cooperation with schools, teachers, federal government and parents to address issues. Diversity of religion is important in education
as there is the power of diversity. Regarding confusing on the separation of church and state, he clarified that the U.S. constitution does not say that the school has to avoid all talk about religion or sharing of information. The Department of Education cannot dictate curriculum; it encourages the states to develop core curriculum, and the public should provide input. Interfaith groups can make curricula and propose them to the federal government.

Dr. Sushil Jain, CAPT, U.S. Navy-retd and President, Federation of Jain Associations in North America (JAINA) emphasized the importance of “‘serving those who serve of Dharmic faiths. Temples can prepare care packages for soldiers, help the veterans transition to the community and assist fallen citizens (those who have been incarcerated), as they too deserve our support.” He concluded, “This first Dharma Conference at the White house was amazing. It helped JAINA delegates understand the level of attention and priority President Obama has given in reaching out to minority faith group. We, Buddhists, Hindus, Jains and Sikhs
were delighted to hear about various programs and how we can partner with federal agencies in addressing our community needs. We at JAINA are looking forward to our follow-up conference.”

Khyati Jyoshi of Fairley Dickenson University observed that religion is lived through acquisition of knowledge, through ritual and action, seva and transnational ties. But many second generation are disengaged and do not consider themselves religious. Perhaps because they don’t get up at five A.M. to do puja or are not vegetarian. She challenged the immigrant generation adapt and more fully engage the second generation, provide adult religious classes for a generation which is hungry for knowledge and eager to
know about their roots.

“This conference marked an expansion and deepening of the dialogue between the administration and the Buddhist, Hindu and Jain and Sikh communities and a recognition of the growing contribution these faiths are making in American society. And I think it got a number of the faith representatives thinking about how they can expand on those contributions,” said Bill Aiken, Public Affairs Director, Soka Gakkai Buddhist Association.

Joshua Stanton of Inter Religious Dialogue said, “The U.S. is the most religiously diverse country since the fall of the Roman Empire – so how do we lead? India has been the most religiously diverse country for millennia. How can we learn from the Dharmic communities? How do we increase positive relationships and make pluralism a reality.”

Bud Heckman, Religions for Peace USA said, “We have a United Nations, why can’t we have a united front of religions working for peace? Today, 76% of America is Christian – by 2050 more than 50% the American public will be non-Christian. So understanding the Dharmic community is important.”

Mark Farr, National Vision of Public Engagement observed, “in the service movement of the U.S. we see, increasingly the crucial facing is the idea of disconnect – faith from business, from family. Individually we are disconnected from each other. The Dharmic traditions (such as yoga and meditation) can teach gentleness, compassion and wholeness to the Western traditions.”

We hope this will be the first step in the Dharmic community, in coming together to explore and identify common ground, unite for social justice and build a coalition to strengthen each other and our nation.

Organizations present in this conference:

Arya Samaj
Ashtanga Yoga Studio and Hindu
Temple
Bhartiya Hindu Temple
Bridgewater Venkateswara Temple
Buddhist Churches of America
Buddhist Global Relief
Cambodian Buddhist Temple
Charlotte Hindu Temple
Chua giac Hoang (Vietnamese) Temple
DFW Hindu Temple
Fairleigh Dickenson University
Federation of Jain Associations in North
America (JAINA)
George Washington University
George Washington University
Guruvayur Temple
Hindu Center, Charlotte
Hindu Temple of Atlanta
Hindu Temple of Metropolitan
Washington
Hindu temple of St. Louis
Hindu Temple of Virgina
Hindu Temple of Wisconsin
Houston Meenakshi Temple
International Buddhist Center
International Buddhist Committee
International Society of Krishna Consciousness
Kashi Temple
M.A. Math (Amma)
Mahwah Hindu Temple
Malibu Temple
Murugan Temple
Naropa University
Nashville Temple
New England Hindu Temple (Lakshmi
Temple)
Prison Dharma Network
Sanatan Mandir
SGI-USA, Youth Anti-violence program
Sikh Organization
Soka Gakkai International-USA
Council of Hindu Temples of North
America
Sri Siva Vishnu Temple, Lanham
Sri Venkataswara Temple of NC ,TIPS,
NRIVA
SVTP-Pittsburgh
Tricycle – The Buddhist Review
Tzu Chi Foundation #1
Tzu Chi Foundation #2
Univ of the West Buddhist Chaplain Program
UVCEF/CAACC/HCCLTVikramasila Foundation (Tibetan)
Wat Lao Temple
Won Buddhism – USA
Zen Center for Contemplative (Hospice) Care
Inter-religious Dialogue
National Vision of Public Engagement
Religions for Peace USA
Many Federal Agencies

Organizing Committee:
HASC:
Anju Bhargava
Siva Subramanian
Buddhist:
William Aiken
B.N. Hebbar
Hindu
Mythili Bachu
Shashikant Sane
Jain
Sushil Jain
Manoj Dharamsi
Sikh
Paramjit Labana

The history of Jainism in Tamil Nadu dates back to 2nd century BCE. Tamil Jains are traditionally called 'Samanars' (Shramana).

Over ten thousand followers of Jainism gathered at the consecration ceremony of the newly built Shri Matru Pitru Smruti Shri Sheetainath Tirthankar Jinalaya. The ceremony was held for the opening of the Kalas on the temple tower as well as for the prathista of the holy men of the religion known as the Tirthankaras.

The temple takes up an area of 8,000 square feet and is claimed to be built as the first of its kind in Tamil Nadu. It is the first such temple to have idols of all 24 Tirthankaras. The temple,which is located near the Mint clock Tower on Basin Bridge Road has been built by the family of Sankarji Prithviraj Kawad.

The people associated with building the temple have stated that it has been built in a Rajastani style and is made of white marble that has been brought from across various centres of the country. The main deity of the 24 Tirthankaras is the one of Bhagwan Sheetainath, hence the name of the temple. He is the 10th deity among the 24 Tirthankaras.

The organizers further stated that the central dome of the temple, also created by rich intricately carved marble is 83 feet high and has carvings of 14 very sacred symbols to the religion.

Various substances considered auspicious in the Jain community were used to decorate and ornate the eyes of the deities. This was a part of the ceremony ritual which took place on the day the temple opened for traditional rituals. Rose quartz, yellow morgue and black rainbow were some of the many rich stones that were used to create the idols.

Each night after the consecration ceremony, there were programs held to take part in devotional singing for the deities. A play depicting the life of Sheetainath was also held for the devotees to watch and learn from. Finally, the highlight of the ceremony was after the 9^th day when a procession was taken out from Mint Street to the temple. Over 15,000 Jain’s participated in this procession and are looking forward to the completion of the temple within the next eight months to come.

An idol of Tirthankar Bhagwan Parshvanath

Chandigarh, Punjab (CHAKRA) — Jain tourism is going to be enhanced by the new Jain idol that will be built in Panchkula. The 23rd Tirthankar Bhagwan Parshvanath idol is being installed in a new temple in Sector 18. The idol will be 7.3 feet and up by the middle of March. 1,008 cobras will be a part of the idol and water will be fountaining out of each cobra, making the idol statue very unique and attractive to tourists in the Jain community and other tourists as well.

Upadhyayshri Guptisagar, one of most revered scholars and saints of Digambar Jain’s in the world, revealed that the artisans took over six months to make the idol and have been paid more than they expected. However, the amount they were paid has not been revealed.

The statue is made out of black marble from Makrana in Rajasthan and the throne of the idol has intricate artistic work on it. However, the most attractive feature of the idol are the cobras with water fountains.

Guptisagar, who does not dress in traditional Jain sainthood attire, will walk down from Madhya Pradesh to install and consecrate the idol sometime in March at Panchkula. The saint is a pioneer of Jain school and has 30 publications credited to him in which he focuses on public welfare.
He is known for not sleeping even 3 hours a day.

He explained that Jain’s are known for being one of the highest per capita income and wealthy communities of India. Jain saints are known to live the toughest lives amongst religious leaders of other religions in the world.
Digambar Jain saints do not possess even a single piece of clothing or a single utensil of any sort. They are known to eat and drink only once in a day and use their hands to eat as well as their palms to drink water out of.

 
Mohan Gowda, Hindu Jana Jagruti Vedike spokesperson stated that the government has decided to go ahead with demolishing this large number of religious structures. 

The verdict of the Supreme Court clearly states that all religious structures that are built after December 7, 2009 must be demolished and most of these religious structures are Hindu temples across Mangalore.  With regards to those places of worship built before December 7, 2009–they will be examined case by case before a decision is made for whether they will become regularized structures, relocated or demolished. 
 
A very short notice has been given with no opportunity for appeal and the state government in its affidavit to the Supreme Court has agreed to clear all illegal religious structures by the end of this month. 

Gowda further stated that although the Supreme Court has allowed for temples that are over 30 years old to be regularized, the Karnataka government is simply seeking to demolish because the process of regularizing will be time consuming and not worth their time. It’s unfortunate according to him, that temples over 300 years old are at risk of demolition. 
 

Some temples that have received demolition notices are over 100 year old including the Kateel Temple in Dwara and the Mukhya Prana temple in Mangalore. 
The same government that had promised to protect the Hindu temples is not supporting and acting towards a demolition drive.  

Three hundred temples have now been given orders to relocate but there are many problems finding a place to relocate such a high number of temples and with so many restricted areas for religious structures present.

Jainism - A Dharmic Faith

India (CHAKRA) - A 36-year old book which seeks to unite all sects of Jainism has been brought to light after a group of Jain scholars organized a national seminar to revive the book.  The importance of the message of the text is what has led them to hold a separate seminar to bring awareness.

The seminar was held for two days on a Thursday and Friday, and consisted of 15 academic presentations which highlighted the various facets of Saman-Suttam which is a book compiled from information from the Agamas.  The Agamas are religious scriptures of Jainism.  Three hundred Jain Acharyas and scholars from Digambar and Shvetambar sects of Jainism attended and took part in these presentations. Vinoba Bhave a freedom fighter and human rights advocate commissioned the book and it was completed in 1974.

Dr. Geeta Mehta, a Jainology professor at KJ Somaiya Centre for Studies in Jainism said that Bhave’s goal was to create a single text that incorporated all sects of Jainism into one to highlight the essence of the religion as a whole.  The campus that Dr. Mehta works at is where the seminar was held.

The book is written in the form of 756 verses and has been translated in English, Hindu and Gujarati. However, this book did not unite various sections successfully as initially intended. Dayanand Bhargav, a professor of Vedic religion stated that “Each sect preferred to refer to its own texts rather than one which belongs to all,”.

Parshwanath Vidyapeeth in Varanasi

Varanasi, India (CHAKRA) —The old city of Varanasi is witnessing an attraction from foreign countries, specifically to two religions—Jainism and Buddhism.  It seems the influence of the two religions is stretching outside of the borders of Varanasi.

While Sarnath, the place where Buddha preached his first sermon, previously emerged into an international centre for Buddhist studies, now Parshwanath Vidyapeeth (PV) is associating with the International School of Jain Studies (ISJS).  PV is an external research centre of Jain studies that is recognized by Banaras Hindu University (BHU).  It is getting ready to promote research on various aspects of Jainism in addition to already teaching students and teachers to real-life experiences and by promoting peaceful coexistence with other religions.

Shagun C. Jain, Vice President of PV as well as Chairman of ISJS-PV Global Centre expressed his pride in establishing the ISJS-PV global centre for ahimsa (non-violence)as well as for starting Indic research in which foreign scholars get the opportunity to get first-hand experience of the traditions and rituals of the variety of religions the city offers.  He also added that since 2005 the number of students attending the international summer school have risen from seven to approximately 60 this year.

The ISJS-PV global centre for ahimsa and Indic research was created in 2009 while ISJS had been holding annual summer classes in the months of June and July at the PV centre for the last five years.

A professor and director of PV said that the whole idea was to attract foreign students and teachers so that they can learn about the rich culture and religions such as Jainism that coexist peacefully within one of the oldest cities of the world.  The same professor, Professor Jain, also added that the centre is starting to link the philosophy of Jainism to modern thinking and lifestyle so that the religious teachings become more relevant to the time and can be easily related to by the students.  Some current issues that are being addressed through religion are terrorism and environmental pollution.

So far the centre has attracted about 60 foreign students from 11 different countries around the world.  About 50 percent of those students come from North America (Canada and the US) but lately students from other Asian and European countries such as Thailand, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Norway, and Denmark have also shown interest towards the programs offered by the ISJS-PV school.

A Colorful Jain Temple in India

Auckland, New Zealand (CHAKRA) – With the visit of Jain leader, Munishri Jinchandraji to Auckland, the Jain community is one step closer to building a place of worship of their own there.  As the community, with the help of Jinchandraji are making progress towards their goal, they are looking forward to a new place where they can feel a sense of community and togetherness.

Wearing simple a clean white cloth, symbolizing purity, wrapped around his body, Jinchandraji has been leading a life apart from all material things since the early age of just eight.  He has been leading such a virtuous life for the last 57 years.  When listening to his discourses or having a personal conversation with him one will immediately notice that he is a believer in clarity of thought and expression, has a sincere concern for today’s youth and is a purely charitable individual with thoughts of compassion for his fellow beings.

When asked for his views on the youth of current society, Jinchandraji answered, “Young minds are vulnerable to temptations in life and easily fall a prey to such evil habits as smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol and consuming narcotic drugs. Children born in Western countries are even more exposed to these dangers than their counterparts in India. It is therefore our duty to guide today’s youth to good things in life. Perhaps there is a need to reinstate the faith of Jainism.”

The Jain leader believes that the Hindu philosophy of “Ahimsa” meaning non-violence or the concept of Satya (truth) should be at the core of each individual’s principles and way of life.  Furthermore, honesty, sincerity and helping others in a form of social service are what should be on every person’s mind he states.

He believes the proposed Jain temple is a good starting point for the Jain community in New Zealand and said that considering the Jain community is only 200 families strong in New Zealand they are off to a very good start towards engaging themselves and the youth into the rich culture Jainism has to offer.

Dimple Shah, Jain Sangh president in New Zealand said that they are looking for a plot to accommodate a temple that can be a place of worship as well as facilitate a meeting place such as a community center for Jains or non-Jains.  In addition, they have planned to build a learning center for the youth especially and adults. 

Jinchandraji said, “We hope to construct a community hall which will be useful for religious, social and community events of our Sangh and perhaps all other groups subject to our norms. “

He further stated, “The construction project will also incorporate classrooms for learning,”

Overall, the community center should function as a place to bring together Jains and non-Jains.

“Jainism can be practiced by anyone who believes in our simple, easy-to-follow principles. We believe in universal brotherhood and achieving high levels of education,” Jinchandraji said.

Jains participate in all religious and cultural observances but follow a strict vegetarian diet keeping away from any root-vegetables as well.  Not all Jains follow the non-consumption of root-vegetables.  Some festivals in which Jains are seen to participate in New Zealand are, Ram Navami, Diwali, Baisakhi, and Saraswathi Pooja.  They are also known to take part in other cultural and ethnic festivals because their philosophies encourage multiculturalism.  

“Jainism is an ancient religion of India, also now found in other countries around the world. Its philosophy and practice rely mainly on self-effort in progressing the soul on the spiritual ladder to divine consciousness,” Jinchandraji said.

The Jain community is a small but strong community in New Zealand, with over 10 million followers in India.  In addition it is growing in North America, the Far East, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

Jains account for the highest literacy rate out of any religious group in India because of their focus on education as an importance.  In India, Jains are found in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and are known respectively as “Tamil Jains” and “Tulu Jains”.

A Small Jain temple

 Ahmedabad, Gujarat (CHAKRA) – Jain Doctor Association (JDA) and Sabarmati Jain Shvetambar Murtipujak Sangh, DRDO, Sristi, IIM-A and Gujarat Vidhyapith and a team of scientists from Defene Institute of Physiology and Applied Sciences (DIPAS), have undertaken a scientific study to see the effects of voluntary and complete fasting on metabolic homeostasis’.  A link has been made between science and religion because of the coming together of spirituality and science.

50 Jain female and male volunteers have take part in the study which has been scheduled during ‘Paryushan Parva’ — a religious week of Jainism during which Jain’s undertake fasting.  Those actively involved in the study are, Professor Anil Gupta from IIM-A, Dr Sudhir Shah from JDA, and Professor Purnima Mehta from Center for Jain Philosophy of Gujarat Vidhyapith.

A group of 50 volunteers aged between 5 and 68 are being closely studied.  They have either accepted fasting for one day, three days (known as Aththam), eight days (known as Aththai), 16 days and for 30 days (known as Maskshaman).

Jain sadhus Acharya Gunratna Maharaj Saheb and Acharya Rashmiratna Maharaj Saheb have prompted and organized such a study.  Acharya Rashmiratna Maharaj Saheb said, “Every religion has talked about the importance of fasting. It works as a process to clean and purify the soul, which is related to karma. In Jainism, a one day fast lasts for 36 hours and one cannot take food or water after sunset.”

Comprehensive benchmarks have been done for the research.  Dr G Ilavazhagan, director of DIPAS, said: “We have been conducting medical test on volunteers who had taken three days, six days, eight days, sixteen days and thirty days fasts, every two to three days. We will continue doing so till they are back to the normal diet. The outcome of the study will take some time.”

He said, “We are doing comprehensive testing of functioning of various organs of body like brain, heart, liver, lungs, and kidneys. The study includes physiology and biochemical parameters that include studying cerebral blood flow, neuro-psychological analysis, lung functioning, blood pressure, heart rate through ECG, EEG tests and test on liver and kidney.”

“As this is the first-of-its-kind study, we want to reach a meaningful conclusion. The results of the study can be applicable to astronauts and defence forces who fast for a longer time in specific situations,” said Ilavazhagan.