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Nadia Temple
Deity: Lord Krishna
Locality: Mayapur
State/Country: West Bengal
Nadia Temple
Mayapur is located on the banks of the Ganges River. It is 130 kms away from 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. This place is very special to the followers of Gaudiya Vaishnavism as this is the birthplace of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, regarded as a special incarnation of Krishna. It is visited by over a million pilgrims annually.
Nadia, Mayapur;
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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. However, he saw a dream in which Chaitanya ordered him to go to Navadvip instead. After some difficulty, in 1887 Bhaktivinoda was transferred to Krishnanagar, a district center twenty-five kilometers away from Navadvip, famous as the birth place of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
Despite poor health, Bhaktivinoda finally managed to start regularly visiting Navadvip to research places connected with Chaitanya. Soon he came to a conclusion that the site purported by the local brahmanas to be Chaitanya’s birthplace could not possibly be genuine. Determined to find the actual place of Chaitanya’s pastimes but frustrated by the lack of reliable evidence and clues, one night he saw a mystical vision.
Taking this as a clue, Bhaktivinoda 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. He soon acquired a property in Surabhi-kunj near Mayapur to oversee the temple construction at Yogapith, Chaitanya’s birthplace.
Mayapur can be reached by boat, and more commonly by train or bus. ISKCON Kolkata operates regular bus service from Kolkata to Mayapur. Frequent train service is available to Krishnanagar, Nadia from Kolkata’s Sealdah Station, then 18 km by auto or cycle rickshaw to Mayapur. 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.
The nearest airport to available to reach Mayapur is Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport which is 112 kms away.
Throughout the year there will be various festivals connected with Lord Sri Krishna and his pastimes like RathaYatra, Palkiutsav (palanquin festival), naukavihar (boat festival), kunja viharautsava (forest festivals) and jhulanutsav (swing festival). These festivals will be accompanied by music concerts and other opportunities for performing arts.
Mayapur is all set to get largest vedic temple. The temple with a height of 340 feet has been named Chandrodaya Mandir and in its completion will be a grand spectacle, bigger than the Hagia Sophia of Istanbul.
Unlike conventional Hindu temple structures, the Chandrodaya Temple is full of huge columns and domes, representative of Western architecture. A 75-feet domed planetarium theatre, the largest of its kind in India, will be one of the unique features of the temple that is being built with imported stainless steel.