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Jain communities across US and Canada celebrate annual festivals
Paryushan lasts eight days for Shwetambars and Das Lakshan spans ten days for Digambars
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Staff Reporter - Mon, 08, Sep 2025
- 00:53 EDT
- 16
JAINA Website / JAINA Website
The Federation of Jain Associations in North America (JAINA) recently highlighted the observance of Jain festivals Paryushan and Das Lakshan, across the United States and Canada.
Paryushan and Das Lakshan are significant Jain festivals focused on self-purification, forgiveness, and spiritual reflection, with Paryushan lasting eight days for Shwetambars and Das Lakshan spanning ten days for Digambars.
The period of reflection, fasting, prayer, and forgiveness was celebrated by thousands of Jain families in temples, community centers, and homes.
ALSO READ: $1 million Jain Studies endowment established at Texas University
Throughout North America, Jains came together for daily prayers, scriptural discourses, meditation sessions, and acts of community service. Many observed
fasting as a practice of discipline and self-reflection.
The festival culminated in Kshamapana (forgiveness), with Jains humbly seeking and granting forgiveness, symbolized by the phrases “Micchami Dukkadam”, “Uttam Kshama”, and “Khamat Khamana”.
'Micchami Dukkadam' is a Jain phrase meaning 'May all my misdeeds be forgiven,' used during Paryushan and Das Lakshan to seek forgiveness; 'Uttam Kshama' refers to supreme forgiveness, one of the ten virtues celebrated during Das Lakshan; and 'Khamat Khamana' is a respectful greeting or apology in Jainism, often used to express humility and seek pardon.
JAINA is an umbrella organization of Jainism in USA and Canada. Founded in 1981, it seeks to preserve, practice, and promote the religion in the North American countries
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