SAVE SHIKHAJI CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED BY JAIN COMMUNITY MEMBERS
Jain community members from across India, aggrieved over the overzealous attempt to commercially exploit in an unplanned manner the
sanctity of Mount Shikarji (also known as Parasnath Hills), have launched ‘Save Shikharji Campaign’ nationally and urged every citizen
of the country to join hands in preserving & promoting the spiritual abode and holiest place of Jains by signing the petition at
www.saveshikharji.com and also sharing it on social media using #SaveShikharji
The Shikarji mountain range, located in Giridih district of Jharkhand, India, has been of spiritual, cultural and religious importance to our nation even before
the beginning of modern history. Inscriptions in Sanskrit older than 16th century only validates them. Mount Shikarji is a national treasure where 20 of
the 24 Jain Tirthankaras along with many other monks attained Moksha thousands of years ago and even today people perform Parikrama around the entire
Parasnath hill (a round trip of 27 kms).
In September 2015, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Raghubar Das, had publicly committed to develop Shikharji as ‘an international seat of spiritualism
and enlightenment’. He even welcomed a Jain delegation and showed keen interest to provide infrastructure without disturbing its sanctity to preserve the
holiness and sanctity of the hill. Even after three years these commitments remain unfulfilled and this lack of action from Jharkhand Government is
worrying Jain Community Members. On the contrary, there are visible signs of commitment being reneged and concerted attempts being made to exploit Mount
Shikharji commercially through rampant urbanization which is virtually threatening the spiritual sanctity of the holy place.
Against this backdrop, the Jain Community Members are of the view that reestablishing the sanctity of such a holy hill is the need of the hour and for this to
happen it is of paramount importance to declare Mount Shikharji ‘a place of worship’ through an act of legislation as done in the case of many famed temple
towns across the country. By doing this Mount Shikharji will stand to gain more and will go a long way in achieving the following - Conserve nation’s spiritual
abode & cultural treasure; Promote peace, tolerance & acceptance; Preserve history & protect it from vandalism; Help protect the sensitive ecology & wildlife of
Madhuban forest range; Increase livelihood of local economy by outgrowing their dependence on forest & wildlife and importantly pave way for human beings to be
more spiritually inclined to attain nirvana.
Shikharji Tirth Raksha Committee is requesting all Jain Sanghs to sign below two petitions to be emailed to PM Narendrabhai Modi and the State Government of Jharkhand
to look into the matter immediately regarding the Holy Shikharji Tirth.
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Jain community members from across India, aggrieved over the overzealous attempt to commercially exploit in an unplanned manner the
sanctity of Mount Shikarji (also known as Parasnath Hills), have launched ‘Save Shikharji Campaign’ nationally and urged every citizen
of the country to join hands in preserving & promoting the spiritual abode and holiest place of Jains by signing the petition at