1 lakh Jains gather in Goregaon, break into Navkar Mantra

Clothed in white more than one lakh Jains created a record of sorts by chanting Navkar Mantra together at the NSE grounds in Goregaon on January 5.

Navkar Mantra is considered to be the most pious mantras for Jains. It is chanted to mark the good qualities of gods, teachers and saints.

Apart from the Jains who lead a family life, sadhus and sadhvis also participated in the event. “We held this programme for world peace. There are terrorist activities, natural calamities and destruction happening around the world. Navkar Mantra is the most pious of the mantras for the Jains and chanting it brings peace and good things,” said Pujya Balmuni Kuldarshan Vijayji Maharaj, who organised the event.

The event that took four months of organising had Jains of all the sects – Shwetambar, Digambar, Murtipujak and Deravasi participating in it. These were from different linguistic background. “We had Jains from Pune, Ahmednagar and even Gujarat who had come to just participate in it,” said Balmuni Maharaj.

“The event was more successful than we thought about it. Our plan was to chant Navkar mantra 9,99,99,999 times but we managed to reach 14 crore figure. Almost all of the one lakh Jains gathered recited it for five hours,” added Balmuni Maharaj.

Jyoti Modi, a resident of Santa Cruz, recited the mantra over 2,300 times. “We chant the mantra with a bead chain that has 108 beads. I completed the bead chain more than 21 times in the five-hour duration,” said Modi.

The Jains believe that if the mantra is chanted as a group, the effects are multi-fold. “We have declared that in 2020, we will chant the mantra for 99 crore times over,” said Balmuni Maharaj.