For all of you who are eagerly awaiting the release of the website - we will be launching it sometime in the end of November. To be the first to find out, why not follow us on twitter or join our facebook page ?

Ahimsa Day celebrates the central Jain tenet of ‘non-violence’ as a means to peace, positivity and prosperity, encouraging MPs, Lords and Ministers to discuss how current world issues can be considered from an alternative ‘compassionate’ perspective.

The focus of this year’s Ahimsa Day was Climate Change and the Contemporary World, a theme on the minds of many people around the world who are seeing first-hand the catastrophic effects of global warming.
The keynote speaker for the evening was Mr Phil Wynn Owen, the Director General for International Climate Change & Energy Efficiency in the Department of Energy & Climate Change [DECC]. He reminded us that even though we in the United Kingdom, contribute to less than 2% of the world’s carbon dioxide omissions, it is our duty to set an example and find ways of helping other countries, within the EU and elsewhere, to reduce their emissions and take active measures to slow down the pace of Climate Change.

The inspiring speech about what we could do to make positive changes for the world of our children was followed by Dr Mehool Sanghrajka, Director of Education at the Institute of Jainology, who responded with the Jain view on Climate Change and the Contemporary World. He reminded us of two basic premises of Lord Mahavira’s 2500 year old philosophy, perhaps the greatest environmentalist theory in our history:

• The earth is a living entity and we are interdependent. We should respect the right of all life to exist, and learn to live in harmony with it rather than exploiting it.
• The earth has enough resources for all. It is accumulation by the few that is the cause of the scarcity. We should learn to live within what we need.

He explained that these two principles offer us all the solutions that we need to solve the problems that the world is facing, if we based our actions and thoughts on science rather than politics!
The evening’s programme ended with the presentation of the Ahimsa Award for 2011 to Mr Nitin Mehta of Croydon UK, for his selfless contribution to the causes of vegetarianism and compassion for animal life. As the founder of the Young Indian Vegetarians Society and an active resident of the Croydon Council, the Board of the Institute of Jainology were unanimous in their decision of awarding Nitin Mehta’s efforts in promoting Ahimsa in this way. The award was presented by Lady Dholakia on behalf of the Institute.

The celebrations of this year’s Ahimsa was another great success, and with an open invitation to hold a future Ahimsa Day at the House of Lords, we hope that we can continue to spread the message of Ahimsa even further!

Drop-in Design

Make your own manuscript

10.30–17.00, Lunchroom 1, Sackler Centre

Pick up a design challenge, hunt for ideas in the galleries, and then create your own fantastic manuscript using eco-friendly paper and lentils. 

Jain Storytelling

11.00, 13.00 & 15.00

South Asia Gallery

Join storyteller Seema Anand for an interactive tale about animals!

Jain Family Tours

12.00, 14.00 and 16.00

South Asia Gallery

The V&A is home to a world renowned collection of Jain manuscripts and objects. Join a free guided tour especially for families by Jainpedia volunteers.

This day of free events is presented by the V&A in partnership with Jainpedia and supported by the Jain Art Fund

Find out more at http://www.vam.ac.uk/families

• story-telling sessions by highly acclaimed story-teller Seema Anand
• hourly tours of the JAINpedia display
• a drop-in craft workshop for children organised by the British Library
• a beautiful dance recital in the Bharat Natyam dance form, performed by founders of the Prakruti Dance School.

Here is the programme for the day:

Look out for our volunteers in their bright orange JAINpedia t-shirts and they can help you find your way to any of the above activities.

Join us for a fun-filled day for you and your family – we look forward to celebrating Mahavir Jayanti with all of you!

Jain artefacts in the Sacred Texts display at the British Library © Institute of Jainology

The temporary display of ‘Jain Sacred Texts’ at the British Library began on 8th October 2010. The display highlights some of the most important collections of Jain manuscripts outside India.

The earliest specimen in the display is from the Jītakalpasūtra, a very rare manuscript on palm leaf, which is only one of the two existing in the British Library. The manuscript, dated 1201, is in the Prakrit language, in Devanagari script.

The entire display consists of approximately 40 objects from across the Library’s Jain collection. It includes pages from the Saṃgrahaṇīratna, the Kalpasūtra, the Uttarādhyayanasūtra and, very interestingly, the Ādityavaravratakatha. This last is a Jain story from the Digambara sect, the only manuscript from this sect in the display. Finally, the love story of Prince Ḍhola and the maiden Māru is also illustrated. Being fond of all types of stories, Jain monks made it their own even though it is considered to be a Rajasthani folk tale.

The IoJ recently published the book Jain Tales, with original artwork by Kamini Gupta, and text by Colin Hynson. The book has been designed for young readers, giving them an insight into the Jain religion, ethics and principles through stories that illustrate the Jain teachings. The launch of this book adds to the entry-level book, Discover Jainism, which is part of the English religious education curriculum.

We look forward to seeing more of you at the next event at the British Library on 15th April 2011. This event will be held to celebrate Mahavir Jayanti, a Jain festival celebrating the birth of Mahavira. Look out for more details of this FREE event!

We’d just like to remind you that there are special Diwali events this weekend at the V&A in South Kensington, London.

You can:

• see rangoli demonstrations both days
• take part in a JAINpedia digital treasure hunt on Sunday
• listen to the storyteller and watch the dancers bring the tales to life on Sunday.

All the events are free, though they will be popular!

And of course you can marvel at the beautiful exhibits in the free display of Jain manuscripts in the Nehru Gallery.

Enjoy!

Consisting of around 40 striking objects from the library’s Jain collection, the display appears in the rotating Sacred Texts permanent exhibition in the Sir John Ritblat Gallery, also known as the Treasures Gallery of the British Library.

The illustrated pages are displayed in different sections – Worship and Meditation, Lives of the Jinas, the Jain Universe and Jain Stories.

As well as two rare palm-leaf folios from the Jita-kalpa-sutra, the exhibition contains paintings of scenes such as:

• worship of Sarasvatī
• Śāntinatha, the 16th Jina, in meditation
• worship of the Jina Pārśvanatha
• 14 auspicious dreams
• enlightenment of a Jina.

Entry to the British Library is free and you can look at the display along with other treasures of the library completely free seven days a week.

Events at the British Library

To complement the display a series of events to celebrate Mahavir Jayanthi will take place in April 2011. These events will include a family craft workshop, storytelling in the gallery and a lunch-time recital. There will also be a reception in March 2011. All events will be free and drop-in so you don’t need to book.

For further information about the events contact rajiv.anand@jainpedia.org

The British Library

The United Kingdom’s national library, the British Library is one of the leading global research libraries.  The British Library holds well over 150 million items, in most known languages from a multitude of cultures around the world. As well as visiting the landmark twentieth-century building in central London for free, you can also explore large parts of its collections online.

The British Library has very large holdings of Jain manuscripts, many sold or bequeathed by eminent scholars of the past. With such a large collection, choosing the cream of the illustrated pages for the display was a difficult task but the JAINpedia team is extremely pleased with the results. You can read full details of pages displayed in this exhibition on the forthcoming JAINpedia website.

We hope to see lots of you in the Treasures Gallery over the next few months.

Nick’s specialist Curator Talk will be held in the Victoria and Albert Museum‘s Hochhauser Auditorium to accompany the launch of JAINpedia – an ambitious project digitising Jain manuscripts in the UK.

The talk will explore finely illustrated Jain manuscript pages on display in the Nehru Gallery of Indian art at the V&A till December 2012.  Dating from the 15th to 19th centuries, these beautiful manuscripts were preserved in temple libraries in India before arriving at the V&A. The V&A’s collection includes examples in a range of styles, some never displayed before.

When?

The talk starts at 1.15pm and finishes at 2pm on Wednesday 3 November 2010.

Where?

The Hochhauser Auditorium at the V&A in South Kensington, London.

Who?

Nick Barnard, Curator of South Asian art in the Asian Department

How much?

It’s free and you can just go along without booking.

More information

You can find out more about the talk and other lunch-time events at the museum from the V&A website.