mumbai jainism does not permit monks to use electricity but with temples and upashreyas shut due to the covid19 pandemic the community has been forced to pivot for the biggest festival in their calendarparyushan the eightday festival starting saturday will be an online affair this year as the devout plug into social media apps and channels jains are sending friendship requests to monks on facebook and following youtube channels of their templesparyushan sermons which usually see jains queuing up at temple gates hours in advance to witness monks discuss jain tenets from the holy books have now found a new avenue in the online spacefor shrimad rajchandra mission dharampur going online is not new as they have followers all over the world but this year paryushan lectures will be broadcast on several platforms and will be aired on religious channels too with absolutely no physical gathering anywhere said bhavin rupani the missions spokespersonthe jain foundation is harnessing technology to keep up the religious fervour it has a webpage and an app through which they will live stream programmes from the adani shantigram jain temple in ahmedabad there will be a morning poojabeside sermons and an evening bhakti said ramesh kumar shah of the foundation he said they will be using 3d technology to celebrate mahaveer jayanti and to recreate the birth of the 24th tirthankar the shift to the digital space is not an overnight one though for several monks though many have taken diksha or the vows of renunciation before the computer penetrated indian homes and have never seen facebook or twitter they adapted to technological advancements their online accounts are updated by disciples who take down their messages and upload on their behalf much like social account managers of celebrities several monks have their own websites too now however the digital divide remains it would not be wrong to say that jain monks are split on the use of electricity as well as going online said babulal jain ujjwal an expert on jainismback in 2011 paras muni a jain monk had said he had never seen facebook but imagined it to be a new adaptation of old methods of social interaction in a village sermons are given under a banyan tree at the centre of a village facebook is like that central chowk of a village he saidfacebook and twitter are not the activities of jain sadhus but through the ages monks have found new ways to show the path when the world is at a crossroads he said the idea behind embracing technology he said had started as a means to reach out to the youth who did not find time to turn up at temples after a few years the only place to meet people will be online he added