Eight-year-old heiress forgoes multimillion-dollar fortune to become nun
19 January 2023, 01:22
An eight-year-old girl in India who was heiress to a multimillion-dollar fortune has instead become a nun in a strict religious order.
Until this week, Devanshi Sanghvi was an heiress to multi-million-pound jewellery firm Sanghvi and Sons, located in Surat, in the west Indian state of Gujarat.
It's known by locals as 'Diamond City' for its reputation in the international trade.
Devanshi's family are also members of the Jain faith, an ancient Indian religion that espouses strict vegetarianism and non-violence.
This week, the youngster's new vocation was heralded with a ceremony that lasted four days.
During the event she appeared in a carriage pulled by an elephant, according to pictures shared by local media.
She arrived at a temple on Wednesday where she had all her hair removed and exchanged her elaborate clothing for a simple white cotton outfit, AFP reported.
According to a witness at the ceremony, who did not want to be named, the former heiress was known for her piousness among members of the Jain community in Surat for, even as a young child.
“Devanshi has never watched television, movies or gone to malls and restaurants,” they said, adding that she had regularly attended temple ceremonies.
She became one of the youngest people to have taken the “diksha” (initiation), doing away with her possessions and entering the faith's religious orders.
Her parents said she had been eager to become a nun, local media reported.
Jain families are sometimes said to encourage their children to enter religious orders to enhance the social standing of their relatives.
Her family's jewellery company has a net worth of $61m, according to Indian credit rating agency ICRA.
The Jain faith has over 4 million followers in India, with many from affluent trading communities.
Followers keep a strict vegetarian diet and some nuns and monks cover their mouths with fabric to avoid accidentally breathing in insects.
