Surat: Around 100 people donated their gold and diamond jewellery instantly at a function in Surat to protect the Jain temples, upashrays, samadhis and gyanshalas in the Gopipura area of the city.

A function was held under the title of ‘Urja Tirth Uddhar Utsav’, which was also attended by Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi.

After the departure of Sanghavi, when an appeal was made from the stage for women to come forward and fill an empty bowl with their jewellery as a donation to the cause, dozens of Jain women formed a queue to donate their jewellery.

Gold rings, diamond rings, mangalsutras, and diamond bangles were among the jewellery items donated instantly by women. Men also joined the queue and gave away their jewellery. At the same time, several people announced donations totaling millions of rupees for the cause.

Gopipura, the oldest area of Surat city, was once populated by a large number of Jains. However, most of them later migrated to Pal, Adajan and other areas. As a result, the Jain temples, gyanshalas, samadhis and upashrays in Gopipura have been attracting fewer visitors and are in decline due to threats from land grabbers, encroachment, structural decay and a financial crunch for day-to-day operations. The appeal for donations and the response continued for about twenty minutes. The announcer said that money can be earned again, but donations are absolutely required for the cause at present. A bowl was also later passed through the audience to attract more jewellery donations.

Gopipura and other such areas have around 44 derasars, 50 upashrays, Ratnasagar School, four Gyan Mandirs, and samadhis of mahatmas that need protection and sustenance efforts.

Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi, in his address, called for major Jain monks to spend their chaturmas in Gopipura. He also suggested holding a grand Gopipura Utsav with the participation of thousands of people. Sanghavi also appealed Jains to visit Gopipura based Jain derasars at least once every month. DeshGujarat