''Saṃvatsari'' ( sa, संवत्सरी) (lit. Annual Day or fig. Forgiveness Day) is the last day of ''

Paryushana Das Lakshana'' or ''Paryushana is the most important annual holy event for Jains and is usually celebrated in August or September in Hindi calendar (indian calendar) Bhadrapad Month's Shukla Paksha. Jains increase their level of spiritual int ...

'' Shwetambar sect of

Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

. It falls on Shukla

Panchami Panchami is the fifth day (tithi) of the fortnight (paksha) in Hindu lunar calendar. Festivals * Nag Panchami is a Hindu festival celebrated by Hindus in most parts of India. It is celebrated in Shravan month. On this day, people worship Nāga D ...

each year in the

Jain calendar The ''Vira Nirvana Samvat'' (era) is a calendar era beginning on 7 October 527 BCE. It commemorates the Nirvana of Lord Mahaviraswami, the 24th Jain Tirthankara. This is the oldest system of chronological reckoning which is still used in India ...

month of Bhadrapada, somewhere between the middle of August and September in the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years di ...

. On this day, Jains forgive and seek

forgiveness Forgiveness, in a psychological sense, is the intentional and voluntary process by which one who may initially feel victimized or wronged, goes through a change in feelings and attitude regarding a given offender, and overcomes the impact of t ...

for their mistakes committed knowingly or unknowingly from all the living beings. A yearly, elaborate penitential retreat called "''samvatsari pratikramana''" is performed on this day. After the ''pratikramana'', Jains seek forgiveness from all the creatures of the world, including friends and relatives by uttering the phrase — ''

Micchami Dukkadam , also written as ''michchha mi dukkadam'', is an ancient Indian Prakrit language phrase, found in historic Jain texts. Its Sanskrit equivalent is "Mithya me duskrtam" and both literally mean "may all the evil that has been done be in vain". It ...

'' or its variants like "Khamau Sa", "Uttam Kshama" or "Khamat Khamna".

Etymology

Samvatsari is derived Sanskrit language. '' Samvatsara'' refers to a "year" in Vedic literature such as the ''

Rigveda The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' ( ', from ' "praise" and ' "knowledge") is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canonical Hindu texts ('' śruti'') known as the Vedas. Only one ...

'' and other ancient texts. Thus, Samvatsari literally refers to a day that comes annually.

Customs and Traditions

As a matter of ritual, they personally greet their friends and relatives

. No private quarrel or dispute may be carried beyond Saṃvatsarī and messages, telephone calls are made to the outstation friends and relatives asking their forgiveness. Being the holiest day of the

, many Jains observe a complete fast on this day.

''Samvatsari'' and ''Kshamavaani''

While ''Samvatsari'' and '' Kshamavaani'' are typically associated with Shwetambar sect and

Digambara ''Digambara'' (; "sky-clad") is one of the two major schools of Jainism, the other being '' Śvētāmbara'' (white-clad). The Sanskrit word ''Digambara'' means "sky-clad", referring to their traditional monastic practice of neither possessing n ...

respectively, there is no major difference between the two days and both are observed as Forgiveness Days. Rather, the two are usually used interchangeably. However, a major difference between the two is that despite both ''Samvatsari'' and ''Kshamavaani'' falling on the last day of Paryushan, they are in fact two different days. This is because the Paryushan festival for the two sects itself commences on different dates and is of varying duration. As a result, while Samvatsari is observed on Shukla Panchami of Bhadrapada month by the Shwetambars, the

s celebrate it on the first day of '' Ashvin Krishna'' month of the lunar-based

References

Jain festivals Festivals in India Jain practices {{Jainism-stub

Etymology

Customs and Traditions

''Samvatsari'' and ''Kshamavaani''

See also

References