Nimita Bagadia has been fasting for five days — no food, just boiled water.

"For me, it's not about losing weight or seeing how long I can go without food," says Nimita, a 28-year-old electrical engineer from Melbourne's south.

"It's about spending that extra time that I would've been eating doing religious activities.

"It will help me progress and move forward and be a better person, and have a better soul and better karma."

Thou shalt not harm

Nimita is a follower of Jainism — an ancient Indian religion grounded in the principle of non-violence.

Their 'do no harm' approach extends to humans, animals, plants and even bacteria.

It's the reason Jains are strict vegetarians — they don't eat root vegetables because they believe the practice kills the entire plant, and any microorganisms living in the surrounding soil.

Jains follow a vegetarian diet to avoid harming living beings and attracting bad karma. ( ABC Arts: Teresa Tan )

Jains only eat between sunrise and sunset to avoid accidentally consuming insects or needlessly killing bacteria.

But the faith affects more than just diet.

Nimita catches public transport whenever possible to reduce harm to the environment. She also worries about where she walks.

"Early on in life, I wouldn't have thought twice about when I played cricket, just walking all over the grass," she says.

"But now that I've embedded all of these [Jain] principles into my life, I've given up cricket.

"I've found other leisure activities that I can do without harming other living things."

During the festival of Paryushan, some Jains eat only twice a day, while others fast completely. ( ABC Arts: Teresa Tan )

From backyard temple to blossoming community

Jainism is an ancient religion, but it is followed by less than one per cent of India's population.

In Australia, there are 4,000 Jains, according to the most recent census. The community is small, but mighty.

Earlier this year, Melbourne's Shwetambar Jain Sangh — a local association for one of the faith's largest sects — bought a $2.9 million property outright in the suburb of Moorabbin.

Families attend Paryushan — a Jain holy event organised by Melbourne's Shwetambar Jain Sangh. ( ABC Arts: Teresa Tan )

Less than a fortnight ago, at the Jain holy event called Paryushan, members of that community pledged even more to build a new temple and centre on the site.

The project is a long-held dream by Nimita's dad, Nitin Doshi, who is president of Melbourne Shwetambar Jain Sangh.

"We are going to build a very big Jain temple, the first of it's kind probably in the whole of Australia," says Nitin proudly.

"Seventy families, or maybe even less, contributed to the tune of about $2.5 million … in about two and a half hours.

When Melbourne's Shwetambar Jain community needed a temple, Nitin Doshi set himself to work. ( ABC Arts: Teresa Tan )

"It was the faith of every family in our God, in our system, in our rituals, in our religion and in our guru that helped them make a decision to contribute an enormous amount of money."

This multi-million-dollar plan is a far cry from the current Jain temple, which was built in 2008 in Nitin's backyard.

"We converted our four-car garage, where we used to play table tennis," laughs his daughter Nimita.

For ten years, their backyard temple has been a bridge between this ancient faith and modern Australia.

"You step inside and you feel like you're in a new world," says Nimita.

"It has all of these beautiful marble carvings and makes you feel very peaceful; it's got this aromatic incense [burning] inside it constantly.

"But at the same time, we use all of these communication tools and the internet and web-casting, Facebook and WhatsApp even, to get better reach across our community."

The temple in Nitin's backyard was built with 11 tonnes of white marble shipped from India. ( ABC Arts: Teresa Tan )

No shoes, no transport: The extremes of monkhood

While technology is embraced by fledgling Jain communities in Australia, the faith's most devout individuals — monks — are completely removed from mod-cons.

In their renunciation ceremony, monks take a series of vows which are based upon the ascetic lifestyle of Lord Mahavira, a seminal figure in contemporary Jainism.

"[Monks] don't use shoes or any other sort of footwear because the sole of your foot is actually carved and so when you walk barefoot, you don't harm as much as if you're wearing shoes," explains Nimita.

"On top of that, monks don't use any vehicles, they don't use airplanes, they don't use anything of that sort — they walk everywhere.

"If there's a puddle, they can't step foot in it because there's a lot of living things just in water."

Due to this restriction, Jain monks can only be found in India.

"It might seem extreme, but for me it's very beautiful that somebody, somewhere gave thought to such minute details," says Nimita.

Religious ornaments, based on a dream by Lord Mahavira's mother, are worn during the festival of Paryushan. ( ABC Arts: Teresa Tan )

Choosing to die religiously

But ancient rites aren't only performed by monks in the Jain faith.

Five and a half years ago, Nimita's maternal grandmother died through santhara – a spiritual practice of death through starvation.

"Santhara is basically a vow where you give up living as a contributor to the community," explains Nimita.

"You don't eat, you don't drink, you give up basically everything."

When Nimita's grandmother 'took up' santhara, it was viewed as a cause for celebration, not solemnity.

As believers in reincarnation, Jains see the body and soul as wholly separate. In taking santhara, a human leaves their mortal manifestation and prepares for their next life.

"For 11 days she was bedridden, because of illness, but at the same time, she had more energy, more positive vibrations than anyone else in our entire family," recalls Nimita.

"Upon her finally passing away, she was given an amazing farewell.

Nimita says her grandmother was viewed as "inspirational" by her community in India. ( ABC Arts: Teresa Tan )

"It was more than a funeral; it was a parade, a celebration of what she had accomplished.

"She was adorned with the monk clothing and she was taken in somewhat of a chariot to where her final rites were completed."

Nimita's grandmother was part of the Sthanakvasi sect, which views santhara in a positive light.

But not everyone agrees with this custom.

In 2015, India's Supreme Court supported a Rajasthan High Court order that banned the Jain practice of starving oneself to death in order to attain spiritual salvation.

Nimita points out that santhara isn't encouraged by all Jain sects.

Nimita says the Jain community wore bright colours to her grandmother's funeral to celebrate her life. ( ABC Arts: Teresa Tan )

"Within our sect, which is Derāvāsī, the concept behind not encouraging [santhara] is that the end moments of your life — the final thoughts and final actions — play a big part in your future rebirth," she says.

"Some people who take on this vow don't eat or drink for months on end … if you lose that positivity, and you pass away in that [negative] state of mind, it's seen as something that's going to diminish all the good work you've done beforehand through your life."

Nimita says she doesn't know of anyone who's taken up santhara in Australia.

She notes the custom is very different from euthanasia.

"I think euthanasia is very different because a lot of people have that wish … to end suffering, they want to end pain," she says.

"Whereas, with santhara you're voluntarily entering a phase with a positive thought that: 'This is my intention — I want to separate my body from my soul'.

"While I don't necessarily think that I would take that on, I still respect [my grandmother's] commitment and her dedication to what she believed was the right thing to do."

Jains dress and decorate their religious idols as a form of devotion. ( ABC Arts: Teresa Tan )

Building strong foundations

Between her dietary requirements, views on dying, and commitment to keeping off grass, Nimita Bagadia mightn't sound like an 'average' Australian millennial.

"When you go out for a social occasion with your colleagues for a professional event and you need special dietary requirements, sometimes it can get very awkward and uncomfortable," she says.

"If you're not strong-minded then you might give in and just eat potato, or accidentally eat a piece of meat."

But Nimita believes no matter where in society you fit in, you're always going to face difficulties.

"It's a matter of being strong-willed and not letting other people knock down your foundation," she says.