Hyderabad : A unique Jain prayer with a difference, Namoththunam, brought together around 1,200 couples at Imperial Gardens, Secunderabad, on Sunday morning. Couples from different walks of life from Hyderabad and neighbouring towns, cities and states participated in the collective prayer. All together, more than 3000 devotees joined in it stated Manoj Kothari, Prachar Manthri for the event in a press note issued.
The programme was organised under the guidance of Jain monk 1008 Pujya Acharya Sri Gyanchandra Ji Marasab Sahib by Shri Vardhaman Sthanakvasi Jain Shravak Sangh, Greater Hyderabad, Kachiguda.
Namoththunam, in simple words, is a prayer—but a prayer with a difference. Across religions, prayer can be a way of seeking, thanking, remembering or transforming oneself. Namoththunam is distinctive in the way it combines reverence with an aspiration to cultivate the qualities of spiritually accomplished beings.
“We often approach prayer with a wish: ‘Give me strength, give me success, give me happiness.’ Namoththunam offers another dimension of prayer: ‘Let me recognise greatness, learn from it and cultivate those qualities in myself.’”
According to Annraj Bafna, President, and Pavan Katariya, Mahamanthri, of Shri Vardhaman Sthanakvasi Jain Shravak Sangh, Greater Hyderabad, Kachiguda, “Namoththunam is a prayer that doesn’t ask, ‘What will I get?’ but ‘What can I learn and become?’”
Unlike prayers centred primarily on seeking material benefits, Namoththunam encourages self-reflection and self-improvement, cultivating qualities such as patience, compassion, humility, discipline and control over anger and ego. “This gives the programme a strong human-interest and social relevance,” said Dr. Archana Ranka, Gynaecologist and participant.
The message, they said, goes beyond the Jain community. At a time when families and individuals face stress, impatience, anger and increasing individualism, the idea of husbands and wives coming together to pause, pray and reflect on the qualities they wish to cultivate in themselves has wider relevance to contemporary society, said Siddharth Pokarna, who is into corporate gifting.
Jainism encourages people not merely to admire someone, but to understand the qualities that make that person worthy of admiration. “We often teach children whom to admire; perhaps we should also teach them what qualities to admire,” said Suresh Sisodiya, Chief Convenor, and Ashok Tated, Chief Convener of Chaturmas.
The programme was therefore more than a religious gathering or a recitation. It became a collective experience of prayer, self-reflection and the aspiration to become better human beings.
Trishla, a newly married 24-year-old Gen-Z participant attending Namoththunam for the first time, said, “It was so calming. I felt as if I was seated next to God and facing Him while praying.”
Mrs. Lalita, a homemaker from Jalgaon, Maharashtra, who participated in the prayer along with around 90 other women, said, “Bhakti mein shakti hai.” (There is power in devotion.)
For IT professionals Prateek Jain and Raksha Jain, both working with multinational IT companies, Namoththunam offered a different perspective on prayer. “We usually pray for something. Namoththunam makes us ask: ‘What can I become?’ It teaches us to admire good qualities in others and consciously cultivate those qualities in ourselves,” they said.
“We usually pray for what we want. Namoththunam reminds us to become what we admire.”
The learning from Namoththunam, participants said, is wide-ranging. Humility, self-control, patience, compassion, discipline, contentment, detachment, self-reflection, choosing better role models and the shift from ‘getting’ to ‘becoming’ were among the qualities highlighted by Surender Jain, Mahender Kumar Jain and Jyothi Lalwani from Jalgaon, Maharashtra, along with Mrs. Shakuntala Pokarna and Harsh Jain from Bengaluru.
The gathering of around 1,200 couples praying together created a powerful visual and spiritual experience, while also highlighting a simple message relevant to everyone: prayer can be not only about what we seek, but also about who we aspire to become.
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