By Gauri Gupta

AMONG the Indian merchants who trickled into the trading port of Singapore back in the colonial days were some Jains.

After World War II, they were joined by their family members and since then the community has sunk roots in Singapore, with almost 350 families residing here now.

The Jains, members of a religious sect that originated in India, follow the philosophy of ahimsa, or non-violence, which also guides followers against materialism while propagating meditation, self-introspection and self-realisation.

The community's early activities here were on an ad hoc basis, mainly on traditional Jain festivals.

But the growing numbers prompted the elders to form the Singapore Jain Religious Society (SJRS) in 1972.

Four years later, they had raised enough funds to build a two-storey building in Eunos.

The SJRS now has 1,500 members, with the majority tracing their roots back to Gujarat, Rajasthan and Punjab.

Working and celebrating together. The Jains are a close-knit community.

Its main event every year, around March/April, is Mahavir Jayanti which marks the birth anniversary of Lord Mahavira.

On this day, graduating students from the Jain Shala - a school which inculcates religious values and creates inter- faith understanding while retaining the essence of the students" heritage " are felicitated.

One of the most important periods in the Jain calendar is Ayambil Oli, a nine-day fasting ritual.

SJRS member Priti J. Shah says: "Jains abstain from all roots like onion, potato, garlic. During Paryushan even green vegetables are taboo since we believe greens have life and eating them is a sort of violence. So we use ingredients like raw bananas to replace potatoes and lentils in different ways to make food interesting."

She was part of the editorial team that produced Celebration Of Our Journey: Honouring Our Past And Building Our Future, a book that documents the community's 100-year history in Singapore, which was released on Feb 13 during the re-opening of the renovated Sthanak (prayer hall).

The Jains are also big on charitable work and, through the SJRS, raised S$12,000 for the Sars Courage Fund in 2003 and S$70,300 for the Tsunami Fund in 2004.

When an earthquake struck Gujarat in 2001, $300,000 was raised.

Since early 2006, the Jains have also played a significant role in the Inter-Religious Organisation (IRO) that was founded in 1949 and represents the nine main religions of Singapore: Hinduism, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism and the Baha'i Faith.

SJRS president Mayur Ghelani sums up: "Most of the current committee members were born here and consider Singapore their home. Their aim is to increase awareness of Jainism in a modern world and in the Singapore context."

For more information on the Singapore Jain Religious Society visit www.sjrs.org.sg