2500th Anniversary of the Nirvana of Bhagavan Mahavira at Visva Bharati Santi Niketan

Summary

This brief report documents celebrations held at Visva Bharati University, Śānti Niketan, West Bengal, to mark the 2,500th anniversary of Lord Mahāvīra’s nirvāṇa. Organised by the university and local Jain institutions, the programme blended scholarship, art and popular participation. On 31 March 1976 the Vice‑Chancellor of Rabindra Bharati inaugurated a seminar on the evolution of Jaina art and logic at Cheena Bhavana; scholars such as Prof. S.C. Sinha, S.C. Sen Gupta, B.S. Nahar and P.C. Gupta delivered lectures analysing Navatattva diagrams, Jaina cosmology and aesthetic principles. An exhibition of Jaina art opened simultaneously at Sinha Sadan, featuring photographs of ancient monuments, sculptures and watercolours by Sri Lalwani that illustrated cosmological concepts and the ninefold path of liberation. In the evening Sri M.N. Deshpande gave an illustrated lecture on Jain monuments accompanied by slides. The following day a cultural programme in Gour Prangan drew around five thousand spectators. Students from the Sri Jain Sikshalaya presented a ballet on the hymn Logassa, a multilingual kavi sammelan with poems on Mahāvīra recited in Sanskrit, Hindi, Rajasthani, Urdu, Bengali and English, and a play titled Rohineya written by Sri Lalwani. The performance, directed by Durga Vyas and Rajkumari Begani, dramatised the message of spiritual bliss through the story of Rohineya; the principal roles were played by Kumari Bina Jain, Manjula Bothra and Padma Saraogi. The report concludes by noting that two additional seminars on Jaina logic and the evolution of Jaina art were held from 1–4 April 1976, underscoring the organisers’ commitment to combining academic study with public outreach.