What is a festival day (Parva - a Jain Festival) according to Jainism?
The daily worship is always fruitful and useful for the upliftment of the soul, but the day of festival or parva is a special day of worshipping, a special kind of worshipping and there is always an ancient event joined with the day. The Parva has some special kind of rites that can increase merits for future. More Penance, more worship, more religious activities are done on the day of Parva. A Soul can create or bind the 'Aayushya Karma' of the next births in future.
Every Parva is celebrated with some special rules and principles. The rites of worship and activities have some special kind of importance in Jain festivals.
The night may be dark,
The path may be difficult,
Light lamps of love and affection
Then it will be Diwali of heart.
Diwali lights the temple of heart; it opens the sky of inner heart. It is Diwali which soaks every living beings with love. This festival has been celebrated for quite a long time. But why do we celebrate it? It is the day of Nirvana Kalyanaka of Lord Mahavir. Gautam Swami, the chief Ganadhar, had done the true worship of Lord Mahavir. He got the Omniscience- the ultimate knowledge after the Nirvana of Lord Mahavir. In the absence of Mahavir Swami, he lamented so much that his soul became free from all the bondages of Karmas. This day is the 'New Year Day' in worldly sense. It can also be called the 'New Year of Your Life'.
This festival is celebrated on the last day of the month of Ashwin.
The New Year day
The first day of the month of Kartik, i.e. the next day after Diwali is known as the New Year Day.
The Ritual of Diwali festival
On the day of the Niravana Kalyanaka of Lord Mahavir, the Jap of 'Shri Mahavir Swami Sarvgnaya Namh' is done at night and at midnight the Jap of 'Shri Mahavir Swami Parangataya Namh' is done. On the early morning of the New Year Day (Kartik Sud-1), the Jap of 20 Navakarvalis (string with beads) is done. The Pad is 'Shri Gautam Swami Sarvgnaya Namh'.
The rituals and meditation should be done with total concentration. So the problems of life are removed. And ultimately, it helps the soul to reach at the Moksha.
