Gujarati couple renounces Rs 200 Cr wealth to embrace monkhood, to survive on alms

 Himmatnagar-based Bhavesh Bhandari's two children had become Jain monks in 2022

Bhavesh Bhandari and his wife | Twitter

PTI, April 15, 2024 : A Gujarati couple has reportedly decided to renounce their properties worth Rs 200 crore to attain monkhood. Bhavesh Bhandari and his wife will leave the rest of their lives seeking alms from the public, the report added.

After the decision was finalised, the Bhandaris led a procession of scores of people, donating their possessions. During the 4-kilometre-long tour, they gave away valuables including their mobile phones and air conditioners to people, NDTV said.

Hailing from Himmatnagar, Bhavesh Bhandari was in the construction industry. On April 22, the couple decided to let go of all their materialistic assets and sever all family ties, NDTV said in a report. According to the report, they are not the first in the family to embrace monkhood in the family. 

In 2022, the two teenage children of the couple did the same. People close to the Bhandari household said that the businessman and his wife were inspired by the lifestyle chosen by their 19-year-old daughter and 16-year-old son -- ultimately deciding to follow suit by "renouncing their material attachments and join the ascetic path".       

Having taken the pledge of monkhood, a lifestyle that may seem arduous awaits the couple. The duo has decided to set out on a journey barefoot across the country -- depending exclusively on alms offered by kind souls for survival. The only possessions they will be taking with them will be a couple of white garments each, a bowl to collect alms and their 'rajoharans'- --  a small broom made of wool threads attached to a wooden stick that is given to new monks as a symbol of welcome.