 Between 1800 and 1992, at least 37 instances of "Sallekhana" are recorded in Jain literature.There were 260 and 90 recorded Sallekhana deaths among Svetambara and Digambara Jains respectively between 1993 and 2003.According to Jitendra Shah, the Director of L D Institute of Indology in Ahmedabad, an average of about 240 Jains practice "Sallekhana" each year in India.