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Founded in 1872 by a Christian community, today Norwood, the location of the JCGB derasar, remains a deeply religious town with three massive churches marking its center . |
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The derasar of the JCGB is located in a quiet residential neighborhood in Norwood, a quaint town 12 miles South of Boston. Although there has been little conflict with the local community, parking remains an issue. |
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The exterior of the temple displays little religious symbolism. Two small plaques making reference to the Jain tenets of nonviolence and interdependence of living forms mark the exterior of the temple. |
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The spacious main hall of the temple houses gatherings of up to 100 families. Here families and their children filled the main hall of the temple in celebration of Paryushana Parva. |
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A family is paying homage to the mulnayak murti (central image) of tirthankara Parshvanath, which has been brought to the center in 1976, 5 years prior to the opening of the temple. |
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The temple is an important place for the transmission of the Jain tradition to the next generation, which proves a difficult task away from India--the homeland of Jainism and Jains. |
The Pluralism Project at Harvard University
