25.05.2017 ►JAINA Convention 2017 ►Update

Jai Jinendra!

In response to numerous requests from Jain Community, the JAINA Convention Board is offering, for a limited time only, a special ‘two-day’ convention registration. Until the May 31st, you can take advantage of the opportunity to register for either Saturday & Sunday (July 1 & 2) or Sunday & Monday (July 2 & 3) for only $199 (adults) and $149 (youths 6-17 years of age). The $299 regular rate for adults and $199 for youths for a full ‘five-day’ registration remains the best offer.

To Register visit

Sincerely,

GUNVANT SHAH
Convener, JAINA Convention 2017

Below is the tentative program highlights for all five days of the convention:

For details please visit

At 8:30 AM we will start with a grand procession outside the convention hall that will have a Rath with Teerthankar Pratimaji, our reverend gurujis and scholars, and various sanghs displaying their banners. The procession will enter the main auditorium and after everyone takes their seats; our main program will start with a Manglik Vachana in a live broadcast from India. Next there will be keynote speakers, including Dr. Abhay Firodia (President of Veeraytan), honored guests, various JAINA announcements, a presentation of the JAINA Ratna award and various special messages given by key dignitaries from around the world.

The afternoon program will include a Veerayatan presentation by Acharya Shri Chandanaji and other sadhvijis. Following this program, Shree Kummar Chatterjee will perform Navkar Mantra Dhun and various stavans by Shri Anandghanji

 The evening agenda will begin with a ‘welcome program’ performance by members of the Jain Center of New Jersey and Jain Center of America followed by a “Jains Got Talent” competition. The highlight of the evening will be a showing of the stirring Hindi play “JIYO JI BHARKE” based on the Jivdaya theme and what takes place inside an animal experimentation laboratory where most of the performers will play the roles of various animals.

Sadhvi Shri Sangh Mitra JI will start the day with the melodious singing of Bhajans, Stavans and prayers which will be followed by short speeches from Shri Lokesh Muni, Bhattarak Shri Charukeertiji and an inspirational speech delivered by Rahul Kapoor Jain. Sadhvi Shri Shilapiji will highlight Veeraytan’s rehabilitation work in Nepal after the 2015 devastating earthquake that ravaged much of the country. She will also demonstrate the amazing memory power of 8-year-old student Sabin Chepang from the Veerayatan’s school in Nepal. Sabin has worked hard under the spiritual guidance of Pujya Acharyashri Chandanaji to integrate his exceptional memory with legendary mnemonic skills. Sabin has memorized the complete TATVART SUTRA Jainism philosophy in 350 sutras over 10 chapters and can present them in any order or sequence, all from memory. This will be followed by a short skit by our Toronto Center members, who will deliver a comedic Gujju-English “KAR VICHAR TO PAAM” highlighting KARMA theory.

The afternoon session will begin with a 2 hour swadhyay by Shri Rakeshbhai Jhaveri. The Jain Academic Bowl (JAB) finals will follow his discourse where in JAINA will be highlighting the accomplishments of our pathshals in a game show format demonstrating the religious knowledge of various pathshala students.

A cultural program by various Jain centers will begin the Sunday evening schedule, followed by the introduction of the newly elected EC team for 2017-2019. The evening program will be capped by the most anticipated single event of the convention and currently the most popular play in India, “YUGUPURUSH,” based on the intersection of the lives of Gandhiji and Shrimad Rajchandraji. This play has been performed in more than 160 Indian cities. It has garnered numerous awards including the 2017 Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Award.

The morning will start with Stavans by Uday Mazumdar and Rekha Trivedi, followed by Ashirvachan of Shri Namra Muniji (live broadcast from India) and a speech by Dr. Sudhir Shah of Ahmedabad on the science behind many Jain principles. To lighten the mood, a famous poet from Mumbai - Shobhit Desai will present some poems and Ghazals based on Jain ideas in Hindi and Gujarati. His appearance will be followed by lectures from Shri Manek Muni, Shri Shrutpragnyaji and Roopchandji Maharaj.

The afternoon session will be highlighted by Shri Kummar Chatterji, who will present “Healing Powers of Mantra.” His rendering of Uvasagaharam and Namothunam in various classical ragas will demonstrate how Mantras can benefit our mental, physical and spiritual health. Next is a one-man play in Hindi called MOHAN KA MASALA, which will tell the previously untold story of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s transformation into Mahatma.

The evening program will begin with finals of “Jains Got Talent.” This will be followed by a short solo dance performance of “JAI MAHAVIR,” in a Bharatnatyam style by young Ayushi Haria, who will bring everyone in the auditorium on their feet dancing and chanting. It will also be a fitting prelude to the next performance, the spectacular “Bollywood Night” musical by Samir Date and Deepali Somiya.

JAINA Convention Board is proud to announce more than 3000 Registrations and would request the community to participate in this Convention in large numbers. We have lined up a mix of events, lectures and activities for all age groups. These 5 days will be full of excitement, fellowship and a special bonding among the delegates. The kids will be taken care at kids Club, the youths have their own programmers where they have knowledge based games, activities, and young adults too have their events. The evenings are full of fun and entertainment.

DR. MANISH MEHTA will be the session organizer for “JAINA’s Diaspora Initiative: Promoting Global Interactions & Collaborations”

MS. SHARMILA JAIN OSWAL shall be speaking on “Transforming Rural India with Jainism and Science”. She is the first woman member of JITO’s Board and runs runs Green Energy Foundation, an NGO working in the water and energy domain.

DR. RAJA RAM MOHAN ROY has deep interest in ancient Indian civilization, and has written various books. He is currently working on his fifth book on Indian history titled “India before Buddha: Vedic kingdoms in 2nd millennium BCE.” His topic for the day is “Was Lord Mahāvīra born in 13th Century BC?”

Mr.RAJESH KUMAR JAIN a management and financial expert who is passionate about Jain philosophy would be giving his views on “Various shades of Jainism - Blending Modernity with Antiquity”.He is the author of “Gods Are Meeting & You Are Invited”, a conceptual and motivational book which is widely acclaimed by the media and many eminent people.

MS. ERIKA ABRAMS would be addressing the house on “The World Needs a Compassion Revolution for Taking Action on Global Warming”. Erika helped establish The Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organizations in 2006 - an umbrella body that helps unite people at various stages of development.

Mr. Prafulla Parakh from Nagpur is the National President of Bharatiya Jain Sanghatana (BJS), a JAINA partner on several projects in India. With a very effective network mobilization, for the social issues he has always been on the forefront to gather support for causes such as upbringing of girls, women empowerment, family counseling, tribal children uplift, career counseling, marriage related issues, Minority status rights & benefits awareness campaign, business development programs etc. His topic is “Jainism, Social Service and Bharatiya Jain Sanghatana’s Pursuits”

In our series of Cultural programs, JAINA Convention board has organized a marvellous play YUGPURUSH - Mahatma Na Mahatma. The 2-hour play in Gujarati Shrimad Rajchsandra Mission Dharampur presents, "Yugpurush - Mahatma Na Mahatma". It is a heart touching and riveting portrayal of the profound spiritual relationship between Shrimadji and Gandhiji. Experience Gandhiji's internal and external journeys unfold under the inspiration of his spiritual master.

The play has performed more than 200 shows in just 4 months all over India. It has won many awards including the Best Play, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor.

JAINA Convention brings an opportunity for individuals/ group/ Jain Center to share personal greetings, name of the families in booklet or promote business in Souvenir book. Please to know more about advertisement for Souvenir book.

The souvenir team is accepting advertisements through May 30th, 2017.

JAINA Convention brings a number of events and activities for the youth of America. Convention gives the youth to interact with their peers,gather knowledge from the well known speakers lined up for the theme of Convention –Jainism and Science.

Here are some highlights of the events planned for the JAINA Convention 2017.

• Breakout Sessions - It will intrigue and guide you on making practical use of Jainism in an interactive format.
• Key Note Speaker - Convention will bring best of intellectual and spiritual leaders and scholars who are practicing Jainism in their daily life and that too with reason and science.
• Social Nights - The evenings are filled with fun, social and cultural activities like Raas Garba, Social Night, DJ Mashup and a Surprise event for the youths.
• Team Building Activities - Activities which will provide you with an opportunity to bond with fellow Jain Youths from across US and also an opportunity to give back to your community.

Activities which will provide you with an opportunity to bond with fellow Jain Youths from across US and also an opportunity to give back to your community.

For the first time in JAINA Convention 2017, we will have a half a day dedicated to women. We will have sessions on every aspect of women’s empowerment. Mission is to promote personal growth, social wellbeing and spiritual progress of all women. Groups around North America- New York, Houston, Atlanta,Washington DC, Chicago and many more are going to attend so please do not forget to attend and be part of this history.