The following article i wrote re: my impressions of the Oshwal Center and JainTemple in LOndon, U.K. – which we recently visited – during the month of September 2017. The article was sent to the Editor of Oshwal News (published in Londion U.K.) – for a possibility of publishing this article in the newsmagazine. So far I have not heard from the Editor – of the status of the article.
8 October 2017
Our Recent Visit – Oshwal Center in London, U.K. and the Jain Temple
We recently visited the Oshwal Center in London, U.K. and the Jain Temple situated at Potters Bar, Hertfordshire when my wife and I had an occasion to travel to the U.K. from Canada.
It’s a fabulous place and worth a visit. We in fact had visited (during our stay in London) the Oshwal Center (& the JainTemple) two (2) times for different programmes. The first one was on SamvatsarÄ« Lunch day on Sunday 03 September 2017 and the second time was during a Snatra Puja at the Jain Temple on Friday 15 September 2017.
We found the Jain Temple to be very pretty and appealing. During the SamvatsarÄ« Lunch day, we were a tad bit early – so it afforded us time to go over to the Temple – offer our prayers and then went on the grounds to enjoy the garden and many different well carved ” stambhs – pillars.
The Jain Temple
The Jain Temple is a “Shikhar Bandhi” Jain Temple and is popular with artistic carving. The inner sacred sanctum houses idols of 3 Tirthankaras (spiritual teachers of the dharma – righteous path) . Mul nayak is Mahavir Swami; on his left is Parshvanath and on his right is Adishvara.
There is a ” Hand with Ahimsa Chkara ” on the ground along one side of the Temple. It is called the Ahimsa Hand (Jain Hand) and symbolizes non-violence. It is a right hand shown facing upwards (fingers up), with the thumb slightly pointed out.
Some believe it to be the SaṃsÄra, a “wheel of life” on which there are depictions of birth, life, death, and reincarnation/death, along with the actions and consequence”™s of one”™s past, present, and future (Jain Hand).
Over upper level ground – a magnificent grove of trees is planted – some 52 trees – representing 52 villages of Halar. Note: Halar is a county/borough in Saurashtra , Gujarat, India – from where originally members of our Visa Oshwal community migrated – about a century ago – to go overseas mostly to Bombay and then to Kenya & other parts of East Africa .
Each tree is planted on its own separated from each other by a fair few feet and each tree is surrounded by a concrete round platform ( ” Otlo “- a Gujarati term ) depicting the name of a village and donors who have contributed funds towards planting that particular tree & platform.
This Temple is gaining reputation for an excellent place for pilgrimage (by Jain visitors to London) and also by tourists interested in knowing/understanding other culture/religion/tradition of the world.
The carved artistic temple along with well laid out and spacious garden provides the peaceful and solemn ambience for those seeking spiritual experience.
Samvatsari Lunch
The Samvatsari lunch was held at the main building – utilizing all the halls (and a marquee)- as to accommodate many participants who had come to share this joyous but somber day in the Jain calendar.
The organization was superb, the enthusiasm and caring attitude of the volunteers were exemplary and worth to be proud of. The crowd was well behaved and remained in queue where so needed. We stood in the queue and there we met some of our London family members and acquaintances. Further we met others in the queue resulting in camaraderie.
As the queue wound down to the lower basement hall, we were greeted with smile and ” namaskar ” by specially posted volunteers welcoming the participants with humility and wishing all of us a nice lunch. This was very profound in lifting our joyous spirit and at the basement hall – we picked up our lunch (chosen by each of us from a variety of menu items) served by volunteers posted at various tables. After pick up of the lunch – we proceeded to the marquee which was erected next to the Main Building . There we all sat down and had our lunch – with quiet and relaxed manner.
After lunch, we came out to the grounds – from exit side – and there we had some time to mill around meeting more of our family members and some old acquaintances.
After finishing our lunch- we spent some time at the Main Building halls – where the ” health challenged” guests were served lunch. The love and care shown by the volunteer servers to each and every guest was exceptionally heart-warming. We ended our visit to the Oshwal Center by 3.30 pm and returned back very contented after enjoying the modern facilities and very warm welcome for the Samvatsari Lunch.
My admiration and many thanks ( and ” Koti koti vandan ” ) to all the volunteers who made the day very comfortable.
Snatra Puja
Friday 15 September 2017 ) was a special day at Oshwal Center for Snatra Puja – which my sister Ranjan and brother-in-law Mahendra would like to participate. So we joined them. What an experience!
I had not done Snatra Puja for a long time – so this was an opportunity to remind me about our Tirthankar Bhagwan achieving liberation from life and death cycle (attains Moksha) and provides an inspiration as to what can be achieved.
Also did ShantiKalash Jal puja, Chaitya Vandan (praying to the Tirthankars at the temple ), & performing Aarti .
As I understand – Snatra Puja is a common Puja widely performed by most of the Deravasi Jain worshipers. It is also a starting Puja before any other main Puja.
Snatra Puja is a celebration of life of Tirthankar Bhagwan . This Puja recital explains the effect of Bhagawan”™s birth on the whole universe, narrates how glorious the occasion was and how much joys were shared by all the living souls including all heavenly souls.
Also did ShantiKalash Jal puja, Chaitya Vandan (praying to the Tirthankars at the temple ), & performing Aarti .
Note: ShantiKalash Jal puja – Water symbolizes life”™s ocean of birth, death and misery. This Jain puja reminds that one should live one’s life with honesty, truthfulness, love and compassion towards all living beings. This way one will be able to cross life”™s ocean and attain liberation (Moksha).
LINK: http://www.jaincentreleicester.com/resources/puja/
Lunch was provided in the hall. The volunteers and the care was outstanding. The lunch was very delicious – prepared with love.
We also had the privilege to listen to the Oshwal Center President Mr. Tushar Shah – who provided background about various activities that the Community is currently engaged on. Very vibrant and modern thinking .
All in all, our visits to the Oshwal Center provided a religious/spiritual and social contexts for our short visit to London, U.K. It provided the view as to how we as a community are leapfrogging into the modern time and yet keeping “volunteerism ” as a central mechanism for our advancement. Our Jain Religion which proclaimed “Non-Violence “as its central precept some 2500 year ago is becoming an engine for a viable peaceful existence in this world.