Jai Jinendra ,

PRATISHTHA CEREMONY OF SHWETAMBAR JAIN TEMPLES IN AMERICA
Within next twelve months, the following eight Jain centers of America will celebrate the Pratishth� ceremony (installation of Tirthankar idol) in their new or renovated/expanded Jain temples.

1. Jain Center of Greater Atlanta
2. Jain Center of Charlotte (North Carolina)
3. Jain Center of Tampa (Florida)
4. Jain Center of Phoenix (Arizona)
5. Jain Center of Southern California (Los Angeles)
6. Jain Center of Southern Florida (Miami)
7. Jain Center of Cleveland (Ohio)
8. Jan Center of Chicago

There are two types of Pratishth� ceremonies performed to install a Tirthankar idol of the Shvet�mbar tradition in a temple. * Pr�na-Pratishth� which includes an Anjan-Shal�k� ceremony * Simple Pratishth� which does not include an Anjan-Shal�k� ceremony Both the ceremonial processes as performed by Shvet�mbar Murtipujak Jain communities. It also explains the benefits and additional responsibility the members of the society have to fulfill if their centers decide to install the idols with Anjan-Shal�k�/ Pr�na-Pratishth� ritual. Some of the new temples in America have decided to install (Pratishth�) a Tirthankar idol with simple Pratishth� (without an Anjan-Shal�k� on an Idol) ceremony while others are not sure whether to install the idols with Anjan-Shal�k� ritual or not. This article may provide some help in your decision.

Basically during Pr�na-Pratishth� or simple Pratishth� ceremony, the same rituals are performed except during Pr�na-Pratishth� ceremony an additional ritual known as Pancha-Kaly�nak (celebrating five great events of the life of Tirthankar) is performed on an idol. An Anjan-Shal�k� ritual is a part of the Pancha Kalyanak ritual. The list of rituals which are performed during Pratishth� ceremony is defined at the end of this article in Appendix 1A and 1B. in Pr�na-Pratishth� ceremony, during Pancha-Kaly�nak ritual, certain rituals such as Anjan-Shal�k� and Adhi-V�san� (Vishistha Vidh�na) are performed only by Pujya Shri �ch�rya (head monk of the Jain congregation) Mah�r�j and thus these rituals are being performed in India on the idols of the Tirthankars and then the idols are transported to America for the final installation in the temple. This is because Jain �ch�ryas, who strictly follow five great vows, cannot travel to America from India on bare-feet. All other rituals of Pratishth� ceremony are performed by a pundit who is known as Vidhik�r.

On any Tirthankar idol, Pr�na-Pratishth� (Pancha-Kaly�nak ritual) ceremony occurs only once but the simple Pratishth� (installation of an idol) ceremony may occur several times if the idol is moved from one temple to another temple or from one place to another within a temple. Hence the ceremony we perform in America is generally a simple Pratishth� ceremony of either an Anjan-Shal�k� idol or non-Anjan-Shal�k� idol. Generally we define our ceremony as a Pr�na-Pratishth� ceremony if we install an idol which had Anjan-Shal�k� done in India. This is not a correct terminology because we do not perform Anjan-Shal�k� ritual here in America. We only do simple Pratishth� meaning installing an idol at its place in a temple.