CM presents Padma award to Jain monk Vijay Ratna Surishwarji at Bharuch

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani today presented Padma Bhushan award to Jain monk Acharya Shri Vijay Ratna Surishwarji Mahraj Saheb at Bharuch in presence of large number of Jain community members from Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Surat and even abroad. Chief Minister said this was the first occasion when a Jain monk was honored with Padma Bhushan award. Rupani said he was proud as a Jain shravak to present the award to Acharya monk.

Rupani said Acharya left worldly life at the age of 18 and gave 50 years to society during which he wrote more than 312 books.

A letter written by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 50-year of Acharya’s monk life was read in the function.

It should be mentioned here that Jain monks don’t use vehicle and they travel between places only by foot. Acharya maharaj was invited by Rashtrapati Bhavan to receive the award in Delhi, but for practical reasons, Acharya couldn’t walk all the way to Delhi for an award. Therefore the award was presented to him at Bharuch today by Chief Minister Rupani who is also Jain by faith.

DeshGujarat