An affluent Jain couple from Gujarat has donated nearly Rs 200 crore and adopted monkhood, and now plans to set out on a journey for salvation. 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 in the construction business follows in the footsteps of his 19-year-old daughter and 16-year-old son who adopted monkhood in 2022. People from their community say that Bhavesh and his wife were inspired by their children to “renounce their material attachments and join the ascetic path”.
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.
The decision by the Bhandari family, known for their immense wealth, has garnered attention across the state. They join a handful of others like Bhavaralal Jain, who had previously turned away from billions to lead a life of restraint. Bhavaralal Jain pioneered the micro-irrigation system in India.
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.
In Jainism, taking ‘diksha’ is a significant commitment where the individual lives without material comforts, surviving on alms and wandering barefoot across the country.
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. Incidentally, just like their son, who rode a Ferrari for his diksha ceremony, the couple drove a Jaguar for their initiation.
In 2017, a rich couple from Madhya Pradesh made headlines when they donated Rs 100 crore and left their three-year-old daughter to become monks. Sumit Rathore, 35, and his wife Anamika, 34, left their daughter with her grandparents before making the big move. A day before Sumit became a monk, the Gujarat State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (GSCPCR) had sought a report from the civil and police administration about the steps taken by the couple to secure the future of Ibhya, who will now have no relation with her parents as monks.
