An affluent Jain couple from Gujarat- Bhavesh Bhandari and his wife- donated nearly ₹200 crore and adopted monkhood. The couple from Himmatnagar donated their entire wealth during a ceremony in February, committing to a life of renunciation at an event later this month. Their 9-year-old daughter and 16-year-old son adopted monkhood in 2022 which inspired the couple who owned a construction business to “renounce their material attachments and join the ascetic path”.
The couple will sever all family ties and won’t be allowed to keep any ‘materialistic objects’ as they take the monkhood pledge on April 22. As per Jain tradition, they will be allowed only two white garments, a bowl for alms and a “rajoharan”- a white broom to brush insects away from an area before they sit.
The couple, along with 35 others, took out a procession of four kilometres where they donated all their possessions. Videos of the procession showed the couple on a chariot donating their belongings including mobile phones and air conditioners.
In 2023, a multi-millionaire diamond merchant and his wife in Gujarat made a similar move after their 12-year-old son adopted monkhood.
In 2017, a couple from Madhya Pradesh- Sumit Rathore and his wife Anamika- donated ₹100 crore and left their three-year-old daughter with her grandparents to become monks.
