Jain Calendar 2020: Fasts and Holidays

Jain Calendar 2020 consists of numerous fasts and festivals that are celebrated with great enthusiasm and joy in Jainism. This is a calendar where all the dates of rites and rituals of Jainism are included. It is a better way to plan one’s events accordingly and hence Astrosage has come up with this organized Calendar with dates and times, named as Jain calendar or Jain Panchang.

Indian holidays are diversified on the basis of region, culture, region and practices. There are different religions defined in India including Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, and Jainism whose festivals and rites are celebrated and performed across the whole country and incorporated in our one common Calendar, i.e. Indian Calendar. If we consider Jain religion, there are numerous fasts and festivals observed by jain community or Jains across the globe. During these events, Jain natives get together with their family members, relatives and friends in order to celebrate it with great joy.

To continue this joy and happiness, we present Jain Calendar 2020 which incorporates dates and times of all important fasts and festivals. All these dates are based on the relative motion of Sun and Moon.

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We have put all the important dates and days for fasts and festivals of Jains in a tabulated form to get details quickly. The details are as under below:

Jain Calendar 2020: List of Holidays

Note: All dates and festivals may vary according to the latitude and longitude of different cities or places. They may fall in different geographical locations. Hence, you are recommended to check the location first in order to get the correct information of Jain Holidays 2020.

Jain Calendar 2020 incorporates great festivals and fasts among which Shri Mahavir Jayanti, Paryushan Parva Rambha, Mahavir Nirvana, Diwali, and so on are major Jain festivals. The birthday of Lord Mahavir, also known as Vardhamana, will fall on March 29, this year, which is being celebrated by Jains with great enthusiasm and energy. They are following his way of teachings and practicing Karma. This additionally implies embracing the way of good conduct, faith and knowledge in their lives which prompts extraordinary thriving and joy.

Paryushan Parva Rambha, another big sacred event in Jainism, falls on September 07 this year. It is celebrated continuously for 8 days by Swetambara and 10 days by Digambara (Two sect of Jains) as per Jain Panchang 2020. It is believed that they increase their level of spirituality in this period by performing fasts and offering prayers. One more big festival being celebrated by Jains is Diwali. It is also believed to be the day when Lord Mahavir attained Moksha. It is also the start of a new year of Jains which starts with Pratipada followed by Diwali. Businessmen start their financial year from this day as per their tradition. It is the time of celebrations, happiness, fun and good luck. Subsequently, festivals in Jain religion is a method for individuals to thrive and satisfy their desires for an ideal and cheerful life.

Jain Calendar 2020 explains that apart from festivals, fasting is a well known ritual in Jainism. Majorly, there are four types of fasting popular in Jains. Let’s read below the types of fasting:

1. Complete fasting

According to this type of fasting, you have to give up food and water completely for a specified period. Time limit for this fasting varies from person to person. Like Monks go on fasting for more than a week or a week. This is the type of fasting in which a person does not wish to come back to a normal life. They only want Moksha or salvation by doing such fasting. Though it is not very common, but saints exist in this era too.

2. Partial fasting

Partial fast is a type of fasting in which person takes control over his taste buds. Eating less than usual in a day in order to get full results is prominent. Generally, Jains are pure vegetarians. They usually avoid ginger-garlic, onion in their eating menu. While fasting, they give up their taste and survive only on essential things.

3. Vruti Sankshepa

The third type of fasting in Jainism is Vruti Sankshepa, in which number of consuming items get limited. One will give up a particular food item for the rest of the life.

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4. Rasa Parityaga

This fasting method also incorporates giving up food items. However, the only difference is that here you need to give up your favourite food item. The basic concept behind this type of fasting is minimizing the need of resources. Since now -a days the resources are minimum and animals are not getting the proper food, hence during this fasting we offer our contribution to others, who actually need.

Jainism is categorized in two divisions: Svetambara and Digambara. The basic difference in between these two lies in the understanding of scriptures and rituals. Worshipping may differ but the main motto of life will remain the same as “Always help, and do not harm others”

Therefore, we hope that our Jain Calendar 2020 will be quite helpful for you, thank you for visiting on our website!