Mayapur

Mayapur
মায়াপুর
city

The Ganges river at Mayapur
Mayapur

Location in West Bengal, India

Coordinates: 23°26′18″N 88°23′34″E / 23.4382755°N 88.3928686°E / 23.4382755; 88.3928686Coordinates: 23°26′18″N 88°23′34″E / 23.4382755°N 88.3928686°E / 23.4382755; 88.3928686
Country  India
State West Bengal
District Nadia
Languages
 • Official Bengali, English
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN 741313
Telephone code 91 3472
Website mayapur.com

Mayapur is located on the banks of the Ganges river, at the point of its confluence with the Jalangi, near Nabadwip, West Bengal, India, 130 km north of Kolkata (Calcutta). The headquarters of ISKCON are situated in Mayapur and it is considered a holy place by a number of other traditions within Hinduism, but is of special significance to followers of Gaudiya Vaishnavism as the birthplace of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, regarded as a special incarnation of Krishna in the mood of Radha. It is visited by over a million pilgrims annually.

Chaitanya's birthplace Yogapith

The temple at Caitanya Mahaprabhu's birthplace in Mayapur established by Bhaktivinoda Thakur in 1880s.

In 1886 a leading Gaudiya Vaisnava reformer Bhaktivinoda Thakur attempted to retire from his government service and move to Vrindavan to pursue his devotional life there.[1] However, he saw a dream in which Lord Chaitanya ordered him to go to Nabadwip instead.[2] After some difficulty, in 1887 Bhaktivinoda Thakur was transferred to Krishnanagar, a district center twenty-five kilometers away from Nabadwip, famous as the birthplace of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.[3] Despite poor health, Thakur Bhaktivinoda finally managed to start regularly visiting Nabadwip to research places connected with Lord Chaitanya.[4] Soon he came to a conclusion that the site purported by the local brahmanas to be Lord Chaitanya's birthplace could not possibly be genuine.[5] Determined to find the actual place of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's pastimes but frustrated by the lack of reliable evidence and clues, one night he saw a mystical vision:[6]

By 10 o'clock the night was very dark and cloudy. Across the Ganges in a northern direction I suddenly saw a large building flooded with golden light. I asked Kamala if he could see the building and he said that he could. But my friend Kerani Babu could see nothing. I was amazed. What could it be? In the morning I went back to the roof and looked carefully back across the Ganges. I saw that in the place where I had seen the building was a stand of palm trees. Inquiring about this area I was told that it was the remains of Lakshman Sen's fort at Ballaldighi.[5]

Taking this as a clue, Bhaktivinoda Thakur conducted a thorough, painstaking investigation of the site, by consulting old geographical maps matched against scriptural and verbal accounts, and eventually came to a conclusion that the village of Ballaldighi was formerly known as Mayapur, confirmed in Bhakti-ratnakara as the actual birth site of Chaitanya.[7] He soon acquired a property in Surabhi-kunj near Mayapur to oversee the temple construction at Yogapith, Chaitanya's birthplace.[8] For this purpose he organized, via Sajjana-tosani and special festivals, as well as personal acquaintances, a massive and hugely successful fundraising effort among the people of Bengal and beyond.[9] Noted Bengali journalist Sisir Kumar Ghosh (1840-1911) commended Thakur Bhaktivinoda for the discovery and hailed him as "the seventh goswami" – a reference to the Six Goswamis, renowned medieval Gaudiya Vaisnava ascetics and close associates of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who had authored many of the school's texts and discovered places of Lord Krishna's pastimes in Vrindavan.[10]

Travel

Crossing the Jalangi river at Mayapur

Mayapur can be reached by boat, and more commonly by train or bus. ISKCON Mayapur travel services, The Gauranga Travels offers cars, and buses on prior booking as per the necessity of the visitor for a safe and comfortable journey. ISKCON Kolkata operates regular bus service from Kolkata to Mayapur. Frequent train service is available to Krishnanagar, Nadia from Kolkata's Sealdah Station,[11] then 18 km by auto or cycle rickshaw to Mayapur.[12] During the visit one can see "the huge headquarters of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)" and "a long stream of saffron-robed devotees chanting" the Hare Krishna mantra.[13]

Memorials

Samadhi Mandir of Srila Prabhupada

A main attraction in Mayapur is Srila Prabhupada's Pushpa Samadhi Mandir, a memorial to ISKCON's founder. The main shrine is surrounded by a museum depicting Srila Prabhupada's life, using fiberglass exhibits. In 2002, the International Society of Krishna Consciousness was planning to construct a garden in memory of George Harrison.[14] Another must visit is the Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir. This temple has 3 main altars, Sri Sri Radha Madhava, Panca-tattva and Lord Narasimha Deva. This Pancha Tattva deities are the Largest Deities of Pancha tattva in the world. The Panca-tattva comprises Sri chaitanya mahaprabhu, nityananda prabhu, advaita acharya, gadadhara pandit and srivas thakur.

Gaudiya Vaishnava temples

The headquarters of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) has been located in Mayapur since the 1970s. In addition, there are a number of other Gaudiya Vaishnava organisations in Mayapur, such as the Gaudiya Math. The town is heavily centered on this particular Vaishnava religious tradition, officially known as the Brahma-Madhva-Gaudiya Sampradaya, with temples devoted to Radha and Krishna or Gaura-Nitai throughout; however, there is a sizable Muslim population in the historical center, previously called Miyapur.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Dasa 1999, pp. 100-101.
  2. ↑ Dasa 1999, p. 101.
  3. ↑ Dasa 1999, pp. 102-103.
  4. ↑ Dasa 1999, pp. 103-105.
  5. 1 2 Dasa 1999, p. 104.
  6. ↑ Fuller 2005, p. 209.
  7. ↑ Dasa 1999, p. 105.
  8. ↑ Dasa 1999, p. 108.
  9. ↑ Fuller 2005, pp. 243-250.
  10. ↑ Dasa 1999, pp. 106-107.
  11. ↑ www.indiarailinfo.com
  12. ↑ Krishnanagar Nadia to Mayapur, Google Maps
  13. ↑ GLASSMAN, ROSSLYN (21 December 2008). "Personal Journeys - Along the Banks of a River, the India of Old". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
  14. ↑ "In Brief: Nickelback, Slayer: Nickelback : Rolling Stone". rollingstone.com 29 March 2002. Retrieved 2009-02-21.

References

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