Devotees bid Rs 35.1 crore for last rites of Jain saint Jayant Sen

MHOW: Members of Shwetambar Jain community bid Rs 35.1 crore for various rituals that were carried out for the last rites of acharya Jayant Sen at Bhandavpur in Rajasthan.
Acharya Jayant Sen passed away at Bhandavpur Jain pilgrimage in Rajasthan on Monday and his last rites were performed on Tuesday. As soon as the news of his demise spread in the community, a large number of followers from Malwa region started marching towards Bhandavpur.Of them, about 3000 were from Indore, Dhar, Jhabua, Alirajpur, Khargone and Barwani.
The seer was instrumental in developing the Mohankhera in Dhar district as a major pilgrimage of the Jain community. Also, he would stay in Dhar, Jhabua, Alirajpur and Ratlam and meet the community members there many times. During the symbolic open bidding that started as per tradition, the devotees did not leave any stone unturned to grab the opportunity and collectively bid Rs 35.1 crore from Monday to Wednesday. There were bids for various rituals that had to be carried out for the last rites of such revered Shwetambar Jain seer and the highest bid of Rs 11.11 crore was for ignition of the pyre made up of sandalwood logs and other expensive substances. Munnalal Hirani of Devsara bagged the 11.11 crore bid and he, after getting dressed as per the rituals lit the pyre in front of sorrow gripped followers.
Yashwant Jain, a community member and native of Bhabhra in Alirajpur and a follower of the seer told TOI that he worked with him when he was conceptualizing his dream of a museum on Jainism at Mohankhera on Indore- Ahmedabad road. The museum is one of its kinds in the country.
“Nityanand and Jairatnavijay have been declared as the successors of acharya Jayant Sen,” Raju Rathore, a follower of acharya Jayant Sen told TOI.