Nitin H.P.
Jain Heritage Centres
Jai Jinendra!
I take this opportunity to inform you all that our website WWW.JAINHERITAGECENTRES.COM (JHC) has completed 11 years of operation sucessfully to day i.e. May 26, 2013. It has been 11 years since we have started functioning. When we look back our journey I feel a little has been achieved over the years & a lot is remaining for us to work upon. However, we still have a satisfaction that we have been able to contribute something to the Jain community.
Looking Back - Rather than looking back and recaling the incidents may be I will just look back about some of the major achievements we have had over the years & give our readers an overview of our forth coming projects & our future planning. I believe that this overview of the planned projects will give our readers an idea as to how can you involve with us & various avenues available to work with in our objective towards serving Jainism. This will help us traverse the path we have travelled & pave the way for future projects.
Our Achievements - Initially let us have a look at some of our major achievements over the years.
News & Event Updates - Regular updates related to the various Jain news & events. We hold our unique indentity in terms of presenting, publishing & maintaining this content. Some of the specific events where our reporting gained special recognition include - attack on Digambar Monks in Tamil Nadu; Updates of the Mahamasthakabihhskea Mahotsava's at Shravanabelagola & Venur; Panchakalyanas; Attack on Prabhalasagarji Maharaj in Girnar; Updates about Kanakagiri; Hombuja & Sonda and many more.
Photo Gallery - I should say JHC is one among the very few Jain websites with a variety of photographs related to Jainism, Jain activities, Jain Heritage Centres, Jain rituals & Jain functions. We have a huge collection of around 7000 plus images. We have a collection of around another 5000 images that are yet to be uploaded on to the website and hope to add many more images in the days ahead.
Article Series - We have also been recognised & looked up to for publishing some specific article series on Jainism. A couple of important once are on Ratnakarandaka Shravakachara; Shravanabelagola & Hombuja.
Jaina Voice - From the day we launched our website we had taken up the initiative of maintaining 'Jaina Voice' to compile, publish news & articles related to Jainism. This is one the best tools that gave JHC an opportunity to get in touch with the people directly. It was stopped in between for a couple of years & restarted with a new format. We did restart with lot of preparations however, beyond a certain point it was difficult to maintain it. This was due to lack of resources & hands to work upon. May be if we get adequate support in terms of resources & more people we will definitely consider restarting it. As it is 'Jaina Voice' has its own identity in terms of its quality articles & the news presented.
Heritage Centres Updates - We had been providing regular updates of many Jain heritage centres as and we have travelled and as we have received updates from people. The updates have been both in terms of contents, literature, articles & images. Our special thanks to all the people who have helped us in this connection.
Chaturmas Directory - Soon after launching the website we started with the Cahturmas Directories & published them for some years. Thanks to Sri Nirmal Sanghvi from Indore for taking up this initiative & coordinating the entire programme. We plan to publish them again in the years to come.
Jainism & Philately Section - JHC is the first ever website to start with the Jainism & Philately section. We happen to stumble upon some philately content published on some free sites. Thanks to Mr.Sudhir Jain of Satna for permitting us to publish all those content & helping us update them regularly.
Websites related to Jainism - We have designed, developed & published many Jain websites related to Jainism, these include - KANAKAGIRI.ORG, MAHAMASTHAKABHISHEKA.COM, HOMBUJAPADMAVATI.ORG. All these websites have stood as a testimony of our commitment towards Jainism. We have also received requests from many other Jain Math's & Jain organisations. Some of these websites are in the making. In a way I should say JHC has transformed itself as a Jain website factory with most of the work being done as a charity to Jainism & the respective orgaisations.
Relaunch of the Website - Our website was relaunched twice, once with an improved design & layout (on HTML) and again with an improved design, Layout & a different platform (content management system). Thanks to Yogesh Jain for suggesting the use of CMS technology. This further fastened & enhanced the entire way of presenting and classifying the content on the website.
10th Anniversary Celebrations - Until JHC completed 10 years we hadn't gone out publicly for any kind of events or functions. I should say that it was a land mark event in the history of the website ever. Our special thanks Dr.Hampana for gracing the event & helping us sail through successfully. He even helped us in the 'Jain Tirth Darshan' slide presentation through his scholarly knowledge & live commentries to the slides.
Jain Tirth Darshan - This is one of the very unique programmes launched by JHC which aimed at taking the ancient Jain Heritage Centres to the door steps of the Jains through flex banners. Till date we have had four shows of Jain Tirth Darshan at Moodabidri - hosted by Tribhuvan Yuva Jain Milan, Moodabidri(January 13, 2013); Yalekyatanahalli - Hosted by Sri Adinath Swamy Temple Trust, Yalekyatanahalli (February 3, 2013); Gerusoppe - hosted by Rani Chennabhyradevi Trust, Nagra Bastikeri, Kshemapura, Gerusoppe (February 25, 2013) and Bangalore - hosted by Jain Yuva Sanghatan, Bangalore (April 23, 2013). All credits goes to Sri Sudeep Jain of Moodabidri for coming out with this proposal. Our thanks to His Holiness Swasti Sri Charukeerthi Bhattarakha Swamiji of Moodabidiri for inaugurating this programme series at Moodabidri.
Future Projects -
'Jain Heritage Foundation' - The response received during the 10th anniversary celebrations was tremendous & people came up with many suggestions about initiating and taking up different kind of projects by the JHC team. This further persuaded us to register a charitable trust to take up such projects & lead to the formation of 'Jain Heritage Foundation'.
Some of thr planned porjects, aims & objectives of Jain Heritage Centres & Jain Heritage Foundation are as below -
- Jain Tirth Darshan programme through flex banners
- Jain Tirth Darshan books series
- Publishing books related to Jainism & Jain Heritage
- Supporting Jain temples rennovation projects
- Supporting Jain Muths & organisations in their projects
- Producing documentaries on Jain temples and tradition
- Recording rare Jain practices related to Jain way of life
- Organising Jainism related lectures, seminars and conferences
- Supporting Jain children education kits
Photography & Video Shoot Equipments - Over the years we have received requests & suggestions from scholars, devotees, visitors, readers & well wishes to produce documentaries on Jain Heritage Centres & events. In order to cut the cost of production & to reduce dependecy on external agencies for the documentries & other projects JHC plans to procure some photography & video shoot equipments. Their costs are expected to be around a couple of Lakhs. We plan to procure them through donations & self funding.
Your Involvement - You can be a part of the above projects or be a part of the Jain Heritage Centres family by involving in the above projects as volunteers and as well as by donating funds to Jain Heritage Foundation. For further details please get in touch with us (Nitin H.P.; email: ; Ph: +91 9880818869).
Our Supporters & Well Wishers - I feel it is worth while to mention some of the people who have helped us reach this stage these include many Munis - Muni 108 Sri Namisagarji Maharaj; Bhattarakhas - His Holiness Swasti Sri Charukeerthi Bhattarakha Swamiji of Shravanabelagola, His Holiness Swasti Sri Bhuvanakeerthi Bhattarakha Swamiji of Kanakagiri, His Holiness Swasti Sri Devendrakeerthi Bhattarakha Swamiji of Hombuja (the current Bhattarakha), His Holiness Swasti Sri Charukeerthi Bhattarakha Swamiji of Moodabidri, His Holiness Swasti Sri Bhattakalanka Bhattarakha Swamiji of Sonda (the current Bhattarakha), His Holiness Swasti Sri Bhanukeerthi Bhattarakha Swamiji of Kambadahalli and others.
Jain Scholars - Late Dr.M.D.Vasantha Raj; Dr.Hampana & Mrs.Kamala Hampana (Bangalore); Prof. M.A.Jayachandra & Smt Vasanthamala Jayachandra (Bangalore); Prof. Shubhachandra (Mysore); Dr.S.V.Sujatha (Bangalore); Dr.Suresh Kumar & Dr. Mrs Jwala Suresh (Mysore); Prof V.P.Jain (Lucknow), Dr.C.Devakumar (New Delhi); Prof. Jevandara Kumar Hotapeti (Shravanabelagola); Dr.Appana Hanje (Gadag); Sri Parshwanath Kempannavara (Chikkodi); Dr.Bahubali Handuru (Nippani); Dr.S.P.Padmaprasad (Tumkur); Dr.Prof. Kanaka Ajithadoss (Chennai), Sri Banukumar Rajendran (Chennai);Sri Vasupujya Parshwanath (Canada) and many others.
Other Jain Activists - Sri R.P.Jain (New Delhi); Dr.Premchand Gada (USA); Smt Bharati Tukol (Bangalore); Sri Yogesh Jain (New Delhi); Sri Gaurav Jain (New Delhi); Jain World (USA); Gokul Chittaranjan (Netherlands); Dr.Sulekh Jain (USA); Sri Manjunath B (Mysore); Rahul Naik (Pune); Sunil S Pai (Mysore); Vinayaka Mahey (Mysore); M.R.Sunil Kumar (Mysore); Mitul Doshi (Chennai); Mr.Sudhir Jain (Satna); Sri Vishwasena (Mysore); Sri Nirmal Sanghvi (Indore & Mumbai); Sri Rushab Shah (Mumbai); Sri Brahmananda Chipre (Bangalore); Sri Sudeep Jain (Moodabiri); Sri Shanthaprasad (Moodabidri); Sri Nagaraj (Gerusoppe); Sri Lokaraj Muppane (Gerusoppe); Sri Manmath Jain (Hombuja); Sri Hosamani (Hombuja); Sri L.S.Jevendrakumar (Shravanabelagola); Sri Y.C.Bhujabalaiah (Bangalore); Sri S.Jitendra Kumar (Bangalore); Sri Devakumaran (Arni & Bangalore); Sri Abhinantha Jain (Chennai); Miss Amsadevi (Chennai) and many more. Our apologies if we have missed out to mention any of the names here.
Special People - Some people have been very very considerate towards the activities of JHC & have nursed it like their own child. These people deserve special mention here - His Holiness Swasti Sri Deevendrakeerthi Bhattarakha Swamiji the current pontiff of Hombuja; Dr.H.A.Parshwanath (Mysore/Bangalore); Smt B.Ashwini (Bangalore); Sri Y.C.Bhujabalaiah (Bangalore); Manjunath B. (Mysore); Sri R.P.Jain (New Delhi); Dr.C.Devakumar (New Delhi); Yogesh Jain (New Delhi), Sri Gaurav Jain (New Delhi); Sri Rahul Naik (Pune) and Sri L.S.Jeevendra Kumar (Shravanabelagola).
Our special thanks to all the people who have patronised and helped us directly or indirectly with our projects and website. Hope to continue our service to Jainism through your continuous support.
Thanking You,
With Kind Regards,
NITIN H.P.
Executive Director, WWW.JAINHERITAGECENTRES.COM
Managing Trustee, Jain Heritage Foundation
Email:
Phone: +91 9880818869