75 people in the 7-70 age group embraced monkhood at a function in Gujarat. (Representational)
Seventy-five people in the 7-70 age group, including crorepatis and professionals, embraced monkhood at a function organised on Monday, a Jain religious group said.
The newly-initiated monks and nuns included all the members of eight families, as well as doctors, engineers, chartered accountants, sportspersons, and as many as 15 crorepatis, said the organiser of the religious function held in Surat's Vesu locality.
These people embraced Jain monkhood on the concluding day of the five-day Diksha Mahotsav (mass initiation festival) organised by Shanti-kanak Shramanopasak Trust-Adhyatma Parivar, it said in a release.
"It was a historic day when 75 people embraced monkhood at a mass programme with over 40,000 devotees being witnesses to the celebration. People from Surat, Ahmedabad and Mumbai were among the 75 who became Jain monks and nuns," the release said.
Those who adopted monastic life were in the age group of 7-70, with some 70 per cent of them being youths, it added.