Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Dalit Engineer Becomes a Jain Monk

-Mahavir Sanglikar



Vishal Damodar, a young Dalit-Buddhist Engineer of Vashim, Maharashtra recently became a Jain monk. He was initiated as a Jain monk by Acharya Navaratn Sagar Suriji, on 15th May this year at Shri Sammed Shikharji, the famous Jain pilgrimage center situated in the state of Jhar Khand, India.

His name is changed to Vishuddh Ratna Sagarji. He will observe his first rainy season (Chaturmas) at Jain Society, Shri Sammedshikharji with other monks in the Sangha of Acharya Navaratn Sagar Suriji.

Vishal Damodar was working as an Engineer at Hyderabad and was attracted towards Jainism. He has studied many Jain texts and traveled more than 2000 Kilo Meters on bare feet. He is just 28 years old.

It is remarkable that there are a notable number of Jain monks who are basically from Dalit community.

1 comment:

  1. Religion is not family specific. All 6 members in a family could belong to different religions. Govt must avoid keeping records on the basis of religion. And there must not be any reservations on the basis o religion.

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