Mumbai: After facing a nation-wide backlash from the Jain community, Mumbai auctioneer Faroq Toddywalla has called off the auction of ancient Jain idols. The FPJ had reported on Wednesday about the auction proposal following which there was a huge uproar from the Jain community which demanded that the idols of their revered tirthankars be handed over to it for worship in temples.
The Delhi-based Vishwa Jain Sangathan filed a cybercrime complaint against Todywalla Auctions who had shared a catalogue of 180 articles to be auctioned at The Taj, Colaba, on April 16. The catalogue included 17 ancient shrines, sandstones and altarpieces of Jain tirthankars and yakshinis, some of them dating back to the ninth-century.
The FPJ had reported about the strong resentment within the Jain community vis a vis the proposed auction. As the auctioning of Jain idols attracted widespread criticism from the Jains, a meeting was organised between the community members and the auctioneer at the Gulalwadi Jain Digambar Mandir in Kalbadevi on Wednesday. Mr Todywalla 's two sons met Jain monk Acharya Pushpadant Sagarji at the temple where they agreed not to auction auction the Jain idols.
The FPJ had reported about the strong resentment within the Jain community vis a vis the proposed auction. As the auctioning of Jain idols attracted widespread criticism from the Jains, a meeting was organised between the community members and the auctioneer at the Gulalwadi Jain Digambar Mandir in Kalbadevi on Wednesday. Mr Todywalla 's two sons met Jain monk Acharya Pushpadant Sagarji at the temple where they agreed not to auction auction the Jain idols.
The FPJ had reported about the strong resentment within the Jain community vis a vis the proposed auction. As the auctioning of Jain idols attracted widespread criticism from the Jains, a meeting was organised between the community members and the auctioneer at the Gulalwadi Jain Digambar Mandir in Kalbadevi on Wednesday. Mr Todywalla 's two sons met Jain monk Acharya Pushpadant Sagarji at the temple where they agreed not to auction auction the Jain idols.
Jamnalal Hapawat, national president of the Digambar Jain Global Mahasabha, who was present at the meeting, told FPJ that, “We cannot be silent spectators if someone is auctioning the idols of our gods. They are symbols of our faith. Due to protest-like atmosphere in the entire community, we met the auctioneer and conveyed the community’s feelings about the proposed auction . They met our acharya saaheb and have decided to withdraw the auction as of now. They will again meet us again to discuss the future plans for the idols.”
FPJ contacted Malcolm Todywalla from the Todywalla Auctions who confirmed that they have withdrawn the Jain idols from the auction. “The Jain community appreciated our work of bringing back India’s ancient heritage back to the country and also requested us to withdraw the idols of their gods. Respecting their religious sentiments, we have withdrawn the 17 Jain idols from the auction,” said Todywalla.
However, the Jain community has also demanded that these idols should be handed over to the community to be placed in the temples and worshipped. “ We can’t bear to see these idols placed anywhere outside our temples. We will have a meeting with the auctioneer again to discuss how we can get these idols,” said Paras Lohade, national youth president of the Digambar Jain Global Mahasabha.
Vishwa Jain Sangathan, who had also written to the Mumbai police commissioner, Central Bureau of Investigation, Archaeological Survey of India and Ministry of Culture, demanded serious investigation to find out how these antique idols were shipped abroad in the first place."
“If we are able to stop the sale of Jain idols across the country in this manner, the theft of these idols will stop by itself. The ASI needs to look into this matter and check the ownership lineage of these idols so that we can know how these idols got out of the country and can finally place them back to the temples they were stolen from,” said Sanjay Kumar Jain, National President of Vishwa Jain Sangathan.
