Jains eager to build temple in Florida city

Aug. 19–Nestled in a nondescript Weston strip mall with law offices and dance studios, the discreet signs taped onto a building’s windows are easy to miss: Jain Center of South Florida.

Inside, a wooden divider separates the chaotic outside world from the serenity of this house of worship. Shoes are piled in the corners — symbolically indicating devotees have left the physical world outside and entered a spiritual place where they can look inward.

Here, members — who call themselves Jains — meet to pray, hold religious classes for their children and discuss Jain philosophy after work. Jainism is an ancient Indian religion whose followers practice nonviolence and lead a simple life.

“As Jains, we are quiet and peace-loving people,” said Mayur Maniar, a Hollywood neurologist and chairman for the center’s Board of Directors.

The officers of this center, which serves as a gathering place for more than 70 Jain families in South Florida, are waiting for approval from the city of Weston to begin constructing a Jaincenter, which will include a derasar (temple), library, dining hall and classroom space. It would be the first of its kind in South Florida and serve Jains in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties.

Construction could begin as early as September.

Since they bought the 4,000-square-foot area in 2005, the leaders have raised about $200,000 in donations and plan to raise another $500,000 by next year. An architectural firm, Trivedi Tectonics, in India, has developed a design that is common to traditional Jain derasars.

In addition, 33 marble idols — images of Jains who have reached the equivalent of Buddhism’s nirvana — have been carved by specialists in India and are ready to be shipped.

“The dream for the last 10 to 15 years is happening,” said Kan Mehta, an engineer and a pioneer of the center.

Jainism is believed to have sprouted about the same time as Buddhism, offering an alternative view of the world and philosophy than Hinduism. Jainism has no specific founder, but rather thirthankaras,or prophets, who revealed the religion to devotees at various times in history. There are 24 thirthankaras, with Mahavira, the developer of modern Jainism, being the most recent.

Today, Jains make up less than 1 percent of India’s population, and more than 100,000 Jains live in the United States, according to JAINA, an umbrella organization for Jain centers.

Jains espouse nonviolence against all living beings — the reason they are strict vegetarians. Jains believe that a person’s soul is reincarnated until he or she follows the Jain tenets of right conduct, faith and knowledge and reaches moksha, or nirvana.

Images of strict followers sweeping the ground of insects before they walk and placing white cloths over their mouths to avoid killing microorganisms are extreme representations of Jains.

Today, most Jains, like those in South Florida, want a center to lead a more spiritual life, interact with people like themselves and pass the religion onto their children.

Mehta, who has lived in South Florida with his wife for 25 years, remembers when he and his Jain friends used to gather at one another’s homes to practice their faith.

In the late 1980s, it was at a Hindu temple, and for the past 10 years, they have rented out community centers.

One reason it took so long to plan the center is making sure the place serves the different divisions of Jainism, Mehta said. Jainism’s two major sects — Digambaras and Svetambaras — agree on the basic principles in Jainism, but differ in how they pray and on the lifestyle of the nuns and monks.

In India, it is rare to find the two sects worshiping under one roof, but the new center will be open to members of both sects.

The facility, scheduled to open in the spring of 2008, will allow devotees to venerate idols with sandalwood, celebrate activities and festivals and invite Jain scholars to speak.

In fall 2006, the Jain center, along with Florida International University, invited a Jain nun from India to teach a course on Jainism. “Our biggest challenge is to have ourselves recognized,” Maniar said.

Deepika Dalal, president of the center, said when she gives PowerPoint presentations on comparative religions every fourth Sunday of the month, some non-Jains attend.

Mehta said he hopes the opening of the temple will raise broader awareness of the religion, but will also build a legacy.

“The basic idea is the hope that future generations should be able to at least understand, learn and practice Jain principles,” Mehta said.

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