Thousands pay their respects to Jain muni in Vijapur
Palanpur, Aug 4 (UNI) Thousands today paid their last respects to Jain muni Gatchhadhipati Surihwarji Maharaj in Vijapur town of Mehsana district where his body was brought yesterday from Ahmedabad.
The funeral procession began this morning from Budhisagar Jain temple where hundreds of his followers were staying since last night for the last rituals.
Interestingly, to perform his last funeral rites' an auction was held and a person bidded for Rs 1.51 crore. The name of the bidder has not been declared.
Those who came to pay their respects were Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Health Minister Ashok Bhatt, Agriculture Minister Bhupemdrasinh Chudasma and thousands of other followers of the muni from Mumbai, Surat, Rajkot, Vadodra and other places from the state.
About twenty-five thousands people paid their last respects, as per official estimates. It was a 105 km long funeral procession that took around two hours to reach Budhisagar temple.
Born
into
a
rich
family,
Vardichand
(his
original
name),
was
the
son
of
the
divan
of
Palanpur
state.
Vardichand
was
religious
by
nature
and
was
engrossed
in
intense
religious
activity.
His
father
was
perturbed
by
his
son's
behaviour
and
tried
to
keep
him
under
strict
observation
when
he
came
to
know
that
he
wanted
to
get
diksha
(for
renunciation.)
However,
Vardichand
was
determined
and
became
Subodh
Sagarji
Maharaj.
He
won
the
respect
of
thousands
of
his
followers
for
his
ideal
of
loving
every
living
creature.
He
was
felicitated
with
a
honorary
title
'Gatchhadhipati.'
UNI