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A Jain husband and wife from Gujarat have donated their immense wealth (nearly Rs200 crore/$32 million) and embraced monkhood.
According to NDTV, they now plan to set out on a journey for salvation.
The news publication reported that Mr Bhavesh Bhandari and his wife donated all their wealth during a ceremony in February, and will officially commit to a life of renunciation at an event later this month.
The businessman from Himmatnagar, who was involved in real estate development in Sabarkantha and Ahmedabad and was accustomed to a life of luxury and prosperity from a young age, follows in the footsteps of his 19-year-old daughter and 16-year-old son who adopted monkhood in 2022.
People from their community said he and his wife were inspired by their children to “renounce their material attachments and join the ascetic path”.
When the children embraced monkhood, Mr Bhandari reportedly said: “My children were raised amid the teachings of monks and had the opportunity to spend time with them during the lockdown, which inspired them to become monks.”
The Bhandari couple, along with 35 others, took out a procession spanning four kilometres where they donated all their possessions, including their mobile phones and air-conditioners. Videos of the procession show the couple atop a chariot dressed like royalty.
After taking the pledge on April 22, the couple will have to sever all family ties and won’t be allowed to keep any “materialistic objects”. They will then walk barefoot across India and survive only on alms.
They will be allowed to own only two white garments, a bowl for alms and a “rajoharan”, a white broom Jain monks use to brush insects away from an area before they sit – a mark of the path of non-violence they follow.
In Jainism, taking “diksha” is a significant commitment where the individual lives without material comforts, surviving on alms and wandering barefoot across the country.
The Bhandari family join a handful of others like Mr Bhavaralal Jain, who had previously turned away from billions to lead a life of restraint. He pioneered the micro-irrigation system in India.
Last year, a multi-millionaire diamond merchant and his wife in Gujarat made a similar move, five years after their 12-year-old son adopted monkhood.
