JAINA Convention 2007
Federation of Jain Associations In North America
JAINA Convention 2007 was a magnificent 4 day event that took place from July 5th to July 8th at New Jersey Convention and Expo Center in Edison. It was the 14th biennial gathering of Jains of North America.
The convention was attended by around 6000 people from all over the world. It was a huge success and the people appreciated the idea of Peace through Dialogue which was the main theme of the event. This was the most appropriate way of resolving many of the contemporary issues which are faced by this world. The theme was carried throughout all the exhibits and the sessions.
The whole team of the convention had come from different countries like East Africa, England, Canada, India and many other countries. There were 250 distinguished scholars and speakers who gave soulful and meaningful talks on different topics related to Jainism like Jainism and Science, Interfaith relations, Peace through Dialogue, Yoga and Meditation, and many such related topics.
The convention brought North American Jains together to discuss topics relating from spiritual uplifting to contemporary issues.
According to Alka Dalal, who is the Convention Board Member said, “The most important is the interfaith and Peace display that was created at the entrance which was intertwined with the Peace through Dialogue theme. It was a display of not only Jain idols but also of all the other religions of the world”.
Many renowned people of the Indo American community were present. Spiritual leaders like Gurudev Chitrabhanu, Sri Sri Ravishankar, Swami Ramdevji and Rakeshbhai Jhaveri were present. Also, youth speaker Nipun Mehta was there to talk about the convention.
Furthermore, honorary congressman Frank Pallone was also present to discourse with the leaders and attendees.
Not only the discussions, there were also entertainment cultural programs ranging from performances by hundreds of children to dramas based on spiritual themes and life of Jain masters.
There were many exhibits of the artists whose works were displayed in a gallery.
The exhibitions like Ashtapad (depiction of Tirthankaras, one who has been liberated with supreme truth) from India for the first time in US, Rangoli (sand sculpture made from 500 shades of crushed marble) based on enlightenment of Lord Mahavira, with the dimension of 16’ X 20’ created by artists from East Africa and Art gallery with many professional artists from USA was an added attraction.
There were musical programs too. There were bhakti sangeet programs by Kumar Chatterjee called as “Morning melodies”. Celebrity singers Sanjeevani and Shivprasad from India sang old golden hits which was a huge success.
A special feature program on devotion composed solely for JAINA called “Meera! The Musical” was a light hearted parody from Dan Nainan, the famous Indian Japanese comedian.
The whole event was very impressive. With thousands of people coming from various parts of the world, it brought all the Jains together, spreading the message of equality of all life and non-violence towards any and all forms of life. Photo Slideshows