Paryushan Parva is the most important annual Jain festival of inner cleansing and spiritual renewal.

Significance (arth)

• Self-purification: Jains intensify vows and practices to reduce karma and purify the mind, speech, and body.
• Worship and study: People read and listen to Jain scriptures, reflect on right faith, right knowledge, and right conduct.
• Five essentials: Forgiveness (kshama), truthfulness, non-violence, non-possessiveness, and self-discipline are emphasized.
• Pratikraman and forgiveness: Each day includes prayers and repentance, with a focus on asking forgiveness from others (and offering it in return). The last day, Samvatsari, is the peak of this process.
• Micchami Dukkadam: On Samvatsari, people seek and grant forgiveness for past wrongs, aiming to start the next year with a clean slate.
• Fasting and ascetic practice: Many observe fasting and increased meditation, study, and seva (service), depending on whether they follow Digambar or Shvetambar customs.

Traditions differ between Digambar and Shvetambar

• Digambar: Paryushan is commonly observed with ten days of scriptural study (often focusing on the Tattvartha Sutra) and related practices.
• Shvetambar: The festival is typically eight days, with emphasis on the Kalpa Sutra and the lives of the Tirthankaras, plus Samvatsari forgiveness.
• In both sects, the core aim remains the same: moral purification, self-restraint, and reconciliation with others.

Timing

• Paryushan generally falls during the monsoon season, in the month of Bhadrapad (according to the Hindu calendar), and culminates in Samvatsari, the day of forgiveness.

If you’d like, I can share a brief, authentic summary of the key verses or prayers recited during Paryushan, or outline a simple, Jain-practice plan for someone observing it this year.