On Sunday, the Jain community in Puducherry celebrated Mahavir Jayanti taking out a ‘rath yatra’ from the Digambar Jain Temple on Vallalar Salai.
The celebration marks the birth of Mahavira, the last Thirthankara. Mahavira was said to be born on the 13 day of the rising moon in Chitra month in 599 B.C. making this year his 2613 birth anniversary, a member of the Jain Association said.
Over 1,500 people from the Jain community in Puducherry and Cuddalore took part in the yatra.
A play on the life of Mahavira was organised on Saturday night. Overall, there are around 2000 Jains in Puducherry and there were also many participants from Cuddalore and the nearby districts, he said.
Puducherry has three Jain temples - on Bharathi Street, Anna Salai and Vallalar Salai. The Digambar temple on Vallalar Street is the largest of the three, but people from all the three temples come together to celebrate the occasion, the member said.
