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