London, UK – 14th May 2026
The Palace of Westminster once again hosted the Institute of Jainology’s annual Mahavir Janma Kalyanak celebrations, bringing together parliamentarians, scholars, museum leaders, community figures and guests for an evening that moved from quiet reflection to a moment of genuine historic significance.
Held in Committee Room 10, the event was chaired by IOJ Managing Trustee Dr Mehool Sanghrajka MBE and hosted by Matt Turmaine MP (Watford), Baroness Shah of Wembley, and Lord Raval of Hertsmere.
A new chapter for the Jain APPG
Following the recitation of the Navkar Mantra by Githa Shah, Matt Turmaine MP was introduced as the new Chairman of the Jain All-Party Parliamentary Group. He thanked his predecessor Gareth Thomas MP for Harrow West for his years of service as the previous chairman, and acknowledged the IOJ’s continuing role as the APPG’s secretariat. He outlined plans for the group’s next phase and reflected on the earlier National OneJAIN Leaders Conference, reinforcing the ambition to see greater Jain representation in Parliament.
Baroness Shah: a first for the Jain community
Baroness Shah spoke movingly about becoming the first Jain member of Parliament. She recalled the moment the Prime Minister’s office called and the initial hesitation she felt, followed by the realisation of what this opportunity meant for her community. Drawing on her background as a teacher and the values of service instilled by her family, she spoke of her determination to ensure she would not be the last Jain to hold such a position. Parliament, she reflected, can feel alien and unfamiliar to many. She wanted to change that.
Cultural milestones: the British Museum and V&A
The evening turned to two of the UK’s leading cultural institutions and their deepening partnerships with the Jain community.
Ancient India: Living Traditions
Sushma Jansari, Curator at the British Museum, spoke about the impact of last year’s Ancient India: Living Traditions exhibition, which the IOJ helped shape through its participation on the Museum’s community advisory panel. She reported that the exhibition exceeded the Museum’s objectives. Her personal aim had been to place people at the centre of the project, building new partnerships with practitioners of the Jain, Hindu and Buddhist faiths, including the IOJ and the Oshwal Association.
She described how the exhibition broke new ground in community engagement, moving beyond conventional focus groups to work openly with faith communities, listening to their feedback and trying new approaches. One example was the selection of animal-free materials for the exhibition’s design, retail offering and vendor selection, with the reception dinner being entirely vegan. Over 80% of visitors surveyed said it was important to have the involvement of the South Asian community, and the exhibition attracted over 20% of its visitors from minority faith backgrounds. Advances in accessibility included quieter evening sessions, sensory trails and careful attention to the provenance of objects on display. The exhibition, she said, demonstrated that these faiths are part of the UK’s shared heritage.
The V&A’s South Asia Gallery
Nick Bernard, Curator of the South Asian Collection at the Victoria & Albert Museum, gave an overview of the V&A’s long collaboration with the IOJ, recalling the earlier Peaceful Liberators exhibition and the Jain Art Fund that helped create a lasting legacy of Jain art at the museum.
He spoke about the Nehru Gallery, which first opened in 1990 and is now undergoing a complete refurbishment. The new South Asia Gallery is expected to open in Spring 2028 and will feature contemporary art alongside historical pieces spanning from 3000 BC to the present day, juxtaposing old with new. He described some of the highlights that will be on display, from Tipu’s Tiger and the Golden Throne to a black stone Parshvanatha figure and Jain manuscripts.
Bernard also highlighted two new free V&A museums at Stratford’s Olympic Park. The Storehouse lets visitors explore over half a million objects on open shelves and even request specific items to inspect up close. The Museum is its more curated sibling, with 500 objects across themed galleries exploring creativity and social change.
OneJAIN Community Awards
The second part of the evening celebrated exceptional contributions by members of the Jain community through the OneJAIN Community Awards.
Young Person Award
The OneJAIN Young Achievers Award, recognising individuals aged 40 or under who have made a significant impact through voluntary service, was presented to Hirak Doshi. The citation was read by Yash Shah.
Excellence in Community Service
The OneJAIN Award for Excellence in Community Service, celebrating individuals who have made a significant impact through voluntary service, was presented to Dr Palak Shah. The citation was read by Saurabh Shah.
Lifetime Achievement
The OneJAIN Lifetime Achievement Award, recognising exceptional selfless service to the Jain and wider community, was presented to Jayeshbhai Shah. The citation was read by Rumit Shah.
Extraordinary Achievement Awards
In addition to the community service awards, the OneJAIN panel recognised two individuals from the Jain community who have achieved something truly remarkable.
Dr Ritan Mehta MBE is a leading Consultant in Sport and Exercise Medicine and Head of Women’s Medical at the Football Association, where he has served as team doctor for the England Women’s Football team since 2014. He has played a key role in the Lionesses’ success across multiple major tournaments, including the historic Euro 2022 victory, FIFA World Cups and two Olympic Games. He was previously team doctor at Watford FC. Awarded an MBE in the King’s New Year Honours 2026 for his services to football and sport, Dr Mehta is also an Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London.
In his response, Dr Mehta said he was proud and honoured to receive this unexpected award. He shared his journey to his current role and how Jain values had served him well. He expressed his gratitude to the Lionesses for what they do for England, women’s sport and the wider community, particularly their role in inspiring young girls and women to be active and healthy. He thanked his family and wife for their support and sacrifices, noting that he spends up to 150 days a year away from home and on-call. He left the audience with a simple message: open the doors, anything is possible, and follow your dreams.
Milli Abrams is a British entrepreneur and adventurer who rowed solo across the Atlantic Ocean, covering 3,000 miles from the Canary Islands to Antigua in 46 days, 11 hours and 44 minutes. She took on the challenge after a 20-year career as an accountant and in recovery from long Covid, celebrating her 50th birthday at sea. Her ocean rowing boat, Knitannia, was wrapped to look like colourful knitwear, a nod to her business, Tribe Yarns. She rowed in support of The 2 Minute Foundation and Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS).
In her response, Milli shared some striking statistics: she is only the 31st woman in history to have rowed solo across the Atlantic, the 4th oldest and the 3rd fastest. She thanked her family for what they went through during the crossing and emphasised that when you put your mind to it, anything is possible. She celebrated the other women achievers recognised at the event.
A historic moment: the restitution of Jain manuscripts
The evening’s centrepiece was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to begin the process of transferring over 2,000 Jain manuscripts from the Wellcome Collection to the Jain community. It was, by any measure, the most significant moment of the evening.
Dr Sanghrajka provided the background to this landmark agreement. The IOJ has a long-standing relationship with the Wellcome Collection through the Jainpedia project, which helped catalogue Jain manuscript collections held in libraries across Europe. The collection being transferred represents the largest group of Jain manuscripts outside South Asia.
The manuscripts, dating from the 15th to 19th centuries, cover religion, culture, medicine and literature, written in Prakrit, Sanskrit, Gujarati, Rajasthani and early Hindi scripts. Around 1,200 of the 2,000 manuscripts were acquired in 1919 from a single Jain temple in what is now Pakistan, purchased at what the Wellcome Collection has acknowledged was an unfairly low price and in circumstances that went against the best interests of the sellers. The remaining manuscripts came from various other sources in what is today Pakistan. Many of the temples from which they originated no longer exist following the partition of India in 1947.
Adrian Plau, Manuscript Collections Information Analyst at the Wellcome Collection, gave a short address tracing the journey of several years that led to this moment. He shared his personal story as a PhD student at SOAS, where he travelled to Jain temple libraries across northern India. His desire to make these manuscripts more accessible had grown from an individual idea into an institutional commitment. He thanked the IOJ, the University of Birmingham and his colleagues at the Wellcome Collection. This was not an end, he said, but a beginning.
Mark Henderson, Executive Director of Corporate Affairs & Engagement at Wellcome, said he was signing the MOU on behalf of many colleagues who had worked over years to bring it about. He spoke about Wellcome’s vision of a healthier future for everyone and a world where everyone’s experience of health matters. Within Wellcome’s collections, he said, lies the opportunity to share different forms of understanding, form meaningful connections and provide an unparalleled resource for exploring health and science. For Wellcome, the objectives have been to increase access, deepen research and safeguard the future of the manuscripts.
Professor David Cheetham, Head of School for Philosophy, Theology and Religion at the University of Birmingham, spoke of growing interest in dharmic topics, including Jain studies, with particular attention to the Jain concepts of Ahimsa (non-violence) and Anekantavada (the many-sidedness of truth). The arrival of the manuscripts at Birmingham, he said, brings with it greater excitement for both students and faculty.
Susan Worrall, Director of Special Collections at the University of Birmingham’s Cadbury Research Library, described it as a privilege to be entrusted with such a rich body of manuscripts, books and archives. She outlined the Library’s commitment to their long-term care and conservation, emphasising that the manuscripts would not simply be stored away. The Library plans to use them for outreach, community engagement and academic research, actively working with the Jain community to find ways to exhibit the collection, embed it in community life and increase wider public awareness of Jain heritage and teachings.
Professor Nalini Balbir, a world-leading authority in Jain studies who worked with the IOJ in cataloguing Jain manuscript collections as part of the Jainpedia project, gave a concise but compelling overview of the collection’s contents and its scholarly importance.
Lord Raval reflected on the deeper significance of the word restitution, tracing it to its Latin roots. Restituere, he explained, means more than simply returning something. It means to make something stand again, to restore it to its rightful place. He drew a connection to the Sanskrit root sthāna, meaning a place or station, a word that appears in the Jain concept of guṇasthāna, the stages of spiritual progress. For Lord Raval, this meant the return of the manuscripts could not be seen as merely a transfer of ownership. It was an act of restoration in the fullest sense: placing sacred knowledge back where it belongs, so that it can once again serve its purpose of guiding people on their own path of progress.
The MOU was then signed by the three partners: Mark Henderson for the Wellcome Collection, Dr Mehool Sanghrajka for the Institute of Jainology, and Marie-Hélène Gorisse for the University of Birmingham. The physical transfer of the manuscripts is expected to begin later this year.
The evening closed with photographs of the award winners and speakers, capping a programme that spanned community recognition, cultural partnership and a landmark moment for Jain heritage in the UK.
