Jain devotees throng shrine in Palanpur for Parnogat

PALANPUR: Thousands of devotees thronged the Pallaviya Swetambar Jain temple in Palanpur on Wednesday to participate in Parnogat (home coming) ceremony of Parsvanatha, the 23rd among the 24 Tirthankaras.
The Pallaviya Jain temple was badly damaged in the earthquake of 2001 and the idols were later shifted to another temple constructed in especially in 2008."The old temple was rebuilt at a cost of about Rs 10 crore and was completed recently," said a trustee of Palanpur Swetambar Jain Sangh Shailesh Mehta. The idols were taken back to the renovated temple on Wednesday.
The Pallaviya temple is around 800 years old and is considered to be among the oldest temples in north Gujarat.
Amid chanting of the hymns, thousands of followers lined up since early morning for a darshan of the idols. Besides providing food to the devotees, the trust managing the temple also distributed mishri among the 40,000 households in the town.
"The temple has been magnificently decorated with intricate designs. Its walls have been beautifully designed with ancient paintings. The idol of Lord Parsvanatha is almost 48 cm in height and is white in colour. It shows the lord seated in a padmasana posture. The idol has been carved from a single stone," said Mehta.
A large number of people had arrived in Palanpur over the last one week from Surat, Navsari, Mumbai, and from Antwerp to participate in the procession that led to the renovated ancient temple. Mehta said the ceremony of Murti Pratisthan will take place somewhere in December or January.