New dharma dhwaj hoisted on both spires of Sarafa's Parshwanath Digambar Jain temple after Diwali

A ceremony to hoist a new dharma dhwaj (religious flag) was held on Tuesday, the day after Diwali, at the Shri Parshwanath Digambar Jain temple in Sarafa. Amid religious fervour and devotion, new flags were raised at 8 am, with due rites, on the spires of Lord Parshwanath and Lord Adinath on the temple's second floor. The tradition of flag hoisting was observed with the chanting of mantras.

This year, the Choudhary family got the honour of hoisting the flag on the spire of Lord Parshwanath. The honour of hoisting the flag on the spire of Lord Adinath went to the Attar and Jain families.

Jain community spokesperson Premanshu Choudhary said those who hoisted the new flag on the Parshwanath spire include the families of Rajkumari, Sweety Sudhanshu Choudhary, Rishika Rupanshu Choudhary, Devanshi Jain, Darshit Jain, Devansh Jain and Riyanshi Jain. The opportunity to hoist the flag on the Adinath spire went to the families of Vinod Uday Jain (Mumbai) and Rani Nitin Kamalchand Jain.

Community president Virendra Bhatyan, trustees Rajesh Jain, Atul Jain, Sankalp Jain, Tarun Jain, Premanshu Jain, Pankaj Jain, Dr Subhash Jain, Chauthmal Jain, Pushpendra Jain and Meena Jain, and a large number of community members were present.

According to Premanshu Choudhary, media in-charge of the Porwad Digambar Jain community, families are given the chance to hoist the flag on the temple spires through bidding held within the community. Community members take part in it with enthusiasm. He said the event is a religious tradition and also a mark of the community's faith and collective participation.

Pandit Nikhlesh Jain said the tradition of hoisting a new dharma dhwaj on the spires of Lord Parshwanath and Lord Adinath on the day after Diwali is many years old. It is believed that the family that gets to hoist the flag on the temple spire enjoys wealth, grain, happiness, prosperity and splendour throughout the year. With this belief, the event is held every year on the day after Diwali. A new dharma dhwaj is hoisted on the temple spire only once a year.