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Jainism, like other indigenous Indian religions, conceives of time as a double spiral; one part descending or diminishing, the other rising or augmenting; but both existing simultaneously. The central objects of worship in a Jain temple are statues of human figures in marble, stone, or metal. These austere and rigid figures, always sharply sculpted and finely polished, sit with their hands folded on their lap or stand bolt upright in meditation. They are the Jinas or Tirthankars, the twenty-four divine ascetic renouncers who have founded the Jain religion.

Although there are many other idols and sacred representations in Jain temples, it is essentially to the Tirthankars that the prayers are addressed. Each temple is named after one main Tirthankar but statues of others also gleam from every wall and dark corner. Going into a Jain temple is like entering a space that is peopled by a crowd of silent identical predecessors. Throughout India there are thousands of ancient Jain temples and many of them became victims of neglect and indifference till Sarita Jain arrived on the scene. She has decided to conserve, preserve and restore these priceless treasures of Jain heritage.

For her, the completion of one temple always led to the restoration of the other. Till now Sarita has completed the restoration work of about fifty-eight temples all over India, which are located in Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and the Himalayas. But that's not the end for her and she yearns to do more. The restoration of the temples, especially the Jain temples involve big money. Hence getting trusted people to handle such huge sums can be difficult. The selection of people is done on merit from the local samaj (community). After the order for the material is placed a team of samijis is put in charge and the work begins without a hitch.

Once Sarita was asked to build a temple of a rare kind in Bijapur. An idol lying buried underground for centuries was found in unique circumstances. As the legend goes, a man heard someone call out to him. When he looked around, to his surprise, he found a big hooded snake hissing at him. At first the man was scared but something propelled him to follow the snake as it slithered away into the darkness. After a while the snake stopped at a particular spot and began drumming his head on the ground. Taking the clue from it he decided what had to be done. The following morning he called for his workers and they started digging at the very spot. To their amazement they found a beautiful rare idol of Parsunath Swamy with 1,008 snakes around his back. The idol is one of its kind in the world. The temple that is built to reinstall this idol is known as the temple of 'Param Sam Rakshak' (the great protector).

Sarita is the trustee of several temples which include the Tearthraj Sammed Shikharke Saswat Trust, Param Sanrakshak Shri 1,008 Sahaster Phani Parsunath Bhagwan Temple, Bijapur', 'Param Sangrakshak of Jain Mahila Adarsh lucknow', Param Sangrakshak Khandelwa Digambur Jain Mahila Mandal Chennai and many more. In Chennai, Sarita works closely with the Mukti, Spastics Society, Jain Vidya Ashram, and Chekovesky Music Club and the Indo-Russian Society. She is presently the President of Sakhi Mandal an organisation for women in Chennai.

She has been honoured with several recognitions and awards from many organisations like the Jin Dharam Prayani Digambur Jain Samaj of Chennai, Samaj Ratan Digambur Samaj Sanghavi, Samaj Ratan Digambur Jain Samaj, Bijapur, Shreth Shravika Brahmi Sundari Alakaran Bhopal, and the Mahila Ratna Shravika Ashram Sholapur and from the Ahirwad Muni Vidyanand Maharaj.

I was wondering where she gets all the energy to undertake these responsibilities. She told me about the meditation, the Ayurveda therapy and other ancient sciences that she practices. She has learned these sciences from her Guruji, as she calls him. He is known as Vaid Raaj Sushil Kumarji Jain. He is a famous Guru among the Jains and lives in Jaipur. He is a practitioner of Orja Paditi (tradition) and cures on average about 350 patients a day. While doing so he loses two to three kilos grams of weight in a day since he gives out his own energy to heal others. However, the next day he is able to regain his original weight. Some say it is from meditation and yoga, while the others simply stay mum after witnessing the miracle.

Sarita has herself mastered the recipes of medical preparation from her Guruji and is now engaged in helping the needy and the poor. She practices Pyramid and Gem therapy to energise the medicines before distributing it free of cost to the needy patients. She believes that once you start charging for your work you start losing your energy.

Despite her accomplishments she displays no airs about herself. She is firmly grounded and hopes to makes the best of her life. She wishes to continue the work that she has committed herself to and believes that she will achieve the target that she has set for herself sooner or later. It reminded me of the famous saying:

'The heights of great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight 
But, they 
While there companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.'

--- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

After I left her I kept pondering over if it the great men (in this case a woman) who make their destiny or is it the destiny that chooses great men. I think in her case she was chosen to carry out this wonderful work. I wish and that people across the globe who are interested in restoration of Indian heritage would support her in this noble cause.

(concluded)

Restoring the Jain Heritage - Part I

Natasha Garyali
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