Liber XVIII · Jainism · Chapter VI: Temples & Pilgrimage
Paryushana and Jain Festivals: Forgiveness, Fasting and Light
Paryushana and the Jain festival year: Samvatsari and Micchami Dukkadam, Das Lakshana, Mahavir Jayanti, Diwali as Mahavira's nirvana and more.
Paryushana is the most important annual festival of Jainism: a period of eight days for Shvetambaras, and ten days for Digambaras (who call it Das Lakshana Parva), held in the rainy-season month of Bhadrapada, usually in August or September. It is devoted to fasting, scripture, confession and above all forgiveness, and it ends with a day on which Jains ask pardon of every living being with the words Micchami Dukkadam. Around it stands a calendar of festivals that commemorate the lives of the Tirthankaras.
The Jain Festival Calendar§
Jain festivals follow the Indian lunisolar calendar, so their dates in the Western calendar move from year to year. Most are tied to the kalyanakas, the five auspicious events — conception, birth, renunciation, omniscience and liberation — in the lives of the twenty-four Tirthankaras, described in Mahavira and the 24 Tirthankaras. Jains also keep their own era, the Vira Nirvana Samvat, counted from Mahavira's liberation and beginning each year on the day after Diwali.
Unlike many religious festivals, the principal Jain celebrations are times of restraint. Fasting, temple worship, listening to sermons, making donations and performing the ritual of repentance (pratikramana) are their characteristic acts. The cycle is closely linked to the four-month rainy-season retreat (chaturmas), during which monks and nuns stay in one town and lay religious activity reaches its height, as explained in Jain Monks and Nuns.
Paryushana: The Shvetambara Festival of Forgiveness§
The eight days§
Paryushana is usually explained as "abiding" or "staying in one place," referring to the settling of ascetics for the rains, or as "coming close" to the soul. For Shvetambaras the festival lasts eight days. Laypeople attend the temple and upashraya daily, listen to sermons, and undertake fasts of varying severity: some eat one meal a day, some fast on alternate days, and the most determined fast for all eight days, taking only boiled water during daylight. Those who complete long fasts are honoured by the community at the end of the festival.
The reading of the Kalpa Sutra§
During the festival monks recite and explain the Kalpa Sutra, which contains the lives of the Tirthankaras and the rules for the rainy season, as described in The Jain Agamas. The high point is the reading of Mahavira's birth. On that day the fourteen auspicious dreams of his mother Trishala are displayed as silver or painted emblems, an image of the infant is placed in a cradle and rocked by devotees, and the community celebrates with music. The privilege of performing such ritual roles is often allocated by pledges of donations, which fund temples and charities.
Samvatsari and Micchami Dukkadam§
The final day, Samvatsari, is the holiest of the Shvetambara year. Most Jains fast, and in the evening the community performs the annual pratikramana, a lengthy ritual of confession lasting several hours in which participants review and repent of the harm they have caused to all forms of life over the past year. Afterwards Jains seek forgiveness from relatives, friends and colleagues, in person, by letter and now by message, saying or writing Micchami Dukkadam, a Prakrit phrase meaning roughly "may my wrongdoing be fruitless." A traditional verse of the ritual expresses the spirit of the day: I forgive all living beings; may all beings forgive me; I have friendship with all and enmity with none. The practice is the communal expression of the ethic described in Ahimsa and the Jain Vows.
Tradition holds that Samvatsari was once observed on the fifth day of the bright half of Bhadrapada and that the teacher Kalakacharya moved it to the fourth day at a king's request; different Shvetambara groups still differ over the date by a day, and Sthanakvasis and Terapanthis sometimes calculate the festival separately.
Das Lakshana Parva: The Digambara Festival of Ten Virtues§
Digambaras observe Das Lakshana Parva, the festival of the "ten characteristics" of dharma, from the fifth to the fourteenth of the bright half of Bhadrapada, beginning just as the Shvetambara festival ends. Each day is devoted to one of the ten virtues listed in the ninth chapter of the Tattvartha Sutra, each described as "supreme" (uttama):
- forgiveness (kshama); 2. humility (mardava); 3. straightforwardness (arjava); 4. purity, or freedom from greed (shaucha); 5. truthfulness (satya); 6. self-restraint (samyama); 7. austerity (tapas); 8. renunciation (tyaga); 9. non-possession (akinchanya); 10. celibacy (brahmacharya).
Sermons explain the virtue of the day, and in many communities one of the ten chapters of the Tattvartha Sutra is read each day. The last day, Ananta Chaturdashi, is often marked by processions; it is followed by Kshamavani, a day of mutual forgiveness corresponding to Samvatsari.
Mahavir Jayanti and the Five Auspicious Events§
Mahavir Jayanti, the birthday of Mahavira, falls on the thirteenth day of the bright half of Chaitra, in March or April, and is the best-known Jain festival outside the community; it is a public holiday in India. Jains hold processions with an image of Mahavira on a chariot, perform the ritual bathing of images, and organise charitable works such as feeding the poor and supporting animal shelters. The anniversaries of other Tirthankaras' kalyanakas are observed in the temples and places associated with them, and pilgrims often time their journeys accordingly, as described in Jain Temples and Pilgrimage.
Diwali and the Jain New Year§
For Jains, Diwali commemorates the liberation (nirvana) of Mahavira at Pavapuri in Bihar on the new-moon night of the month of Kartika. According to the Kalpa Sutra, the eighteen confederate kings of the region, seeing that the light of knowledge had departed, lit lamps in its place — the Jain explanation of the festival's illuminations. Many Jains fast on the day and night of Diwali, meditate and visit temples, offering a sweet called nirvana ladu in honour of the occasion.
That same night, according to tradition, Mahavira's chief disciple Gautama attained omniscience, and the following morning, the first day of Kartika's bright half, begins the Jain new year. Jain merchants also honour Lakshmi and consecrate new account books at this time, a custom shared with their Hindu neighbours and discussed alongside Hindu observances in Hindu Temples, Rituals and Festivals. A few days later, Jnana Panchami celebrates sacred knowledge and the scriptures.
Other Festivals and Fasting Periods§
Akshaya Tritiya§
On the third day of the bright half of Vaishakha, Jains remember how the first Tirthankara, Rishabha, broke a fast of about a year when King Shreyamsa offered him sugarcane juice. Devotees who have undertaken the varshitap, a year of alternate-day fasting, complete it on this day, often at Hastinapur or Palitana.
Ayambil Oli and Kartik Purnima§
Twice a year, in Chaitra and Ashvin, Shvetambaras observe the nine-day Ayambil Oli, eating a single plain meal a day and worshipping the Siddhachakra, as described in The Navkar Mantra. The full moon of Kartika marks the end of the rainy season, when ascetics resume their travels and great crowds climb Shatrunjaya hill at Palitana, which reopens to pilgrims.
Mahamastakabhisheka§
About every twelve years Digambaras celebrate the Mahamastakabhisheka, the head-anointing of the colossal statue of Bahubali at Shravanabelagola, which draws pilgrims from across India.
Paryushana in Public Life§
Because of the festival's emphasis on non-violence, some Indian municipal authorities have at times ordered the temporary closure of slaughterhouses or meat shops during Paryushana. Such orders have been controversial and have been challenged in the courts, raising wider questions about religious sensitivities and the livelihoods of others. In the diaspora, Jain centres in North America, Britain and elsewhere hold Paryushana programmes, often inviting scholars and the Terapanthi samanis who are permitted to travel abroad.
Frequently asked questions§
What is Paryushana?§
It is the principal annual Jain festival, held in Bhadrapada (August–September). Shvetambaras observe it for eight days and Digambaras for ten as Das Lakshana; it is devoted to fasting, study, confession and forgiveness.
What does Micchami Dukkadam mean?§
It is a Prakrit phrase meaning roughly "may my wrongdoing be in vain." Jains say it to ask forgiveness for any harm they have caused, especially on Samvatsari, the final day of Paryushana.
Why do Jains celebrate Diwali?§
For Jains, Diwali marks the liberation of Mahavira at Pavapuri. The lamps recall the kings who lit lights when the "light of knowledge" departed, and the next day begins the Jain new year.
What is the difference between Paryushana and Das Lakshana?§
Paryushana is the Shvetambara festival of eight days ending in Samvatsari; Das Lakshana is the Digambara festival of ten days, each devoted to one of ten virtues. They fall in the same season, one following the other.
Sources and further reading§
- Jains in the World: Religious Values and Ideology in India — John E. Cort, 2001
- Riches and Renunciation: Religion, Economy, and Society among the Jains — James Laidlaw, 1995
- Singing to the Jinas: Jain Laywomen, Mandal Singing, and the Negotiations of Jain Devotion — M. Whitney Kelting, 2001
- Absent Lord: Ascetics and Kings in a Jain Ritual Culture — Lawrence A. Babb, 1996
- Jaina Sutras — Hermann Jacobi (trans.), 1884
- The Jains — Paul Dundas, 1992