Sri Dham Mayapur

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Sri Dham Mayapur is a difficult place to explain, and even photos wouldn't do. To begin with, Mayapur is the birthplace of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who was born here around 500 years ago. It is one of the 'nine islands' of Nabadwip and is situated on the confluence of the Jalungi and the Ganges rivers. Mayapur also houses numerous temples and samadhis (a samadhi is a kind of tomb) of the Brahma Madhava Gaudiya Sampradya, including ISKCON's Chandradoya Mandira which houses Sri Sri Radha Madhava, Sri Narasinghadeva, Sri Pancha Tattva, Srila Prabhupada's Pushpa Samadhi, and a handful of Samadhis of other ISKCON Sanyasis including that of Tridandi Swami Tamala Krishna Goswami and HG Bhakta Tirtha Swami.

Now all of these features designate Sri Dham Mayapur a very holy and sacred place, and that it is; but those unfamiliar with the Bhakti tradition may think that Mayapur is at once a sacred and holy town, full of peaceful renunciates, and a party town of younger (and older too!) people raving all day and night. In fact, the Bhakti tradition fuses aspects of these two phenomena and what results may seem a little confusing to the casual observer.

The Bhakti tradition - within the various Hindu traditions - was given a influenced by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu who preached that, as the Bhagavad Gita itself explains, in the Kali Yuga (the present time) the best form of yoga, and the best way to achieve liberation, is the performance of Bhakti Yoga. Mahaprabhu is Radha-Krishna who appeared both to teach and experience Bhakti. Bhakti, which is devotional service, often ecstatic - is said to have been transformed from a restrained aspect of worship into the ecstatic phenomena that we see today by devotional poets writing in the Tamil language, Vaisnava Alvars, and Shaivite Nayanars in the eighth through tenth centuries. It was Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu who gave Bhakti its national, and now international, appeal.

One important feature of Bhakti is that much of the philosophy surrounding its practice, including the literature, is not found or observed in the more orthodox Sanskrit, but in local languages such as Tamil, Marathi, Bangali, Brijbhasi, Gujarati, and Mewari. This, one can see, has quite similar phenomenological characteristics to the Protestant revolution in Europe. With Bhakti literature and practice available to the wider group of individuals (one aspect of many Bhakti traditions is their rejection of the caste system based upon jati, or birth), and the teachings and examples of Mahaprabhu, Bhakti was transformed from a means of liberation into liberation itself.

Now it may seem unusual to have given such a speal about Bhakti when my goal was to describe Sri Dham Mayapur, but I think that understanding Bhakti is the only way to understand the apparent contradictions found here. Bhakti is both personal and practiced in numbers - the reason why some people are seen sitting peacefully, perhaps chanting the Maha Mantra or enjoying prasad - and why others are in groups ecstatically dancing and singing, with instruments from all over the world, in a blissful raucous. The fact that Bhakti does not discriminate (you don't have to be a Brahman by birth, for example) explains why even the beedie smoking ricksha wallahs are considered to be no lower than the other devotees, and why they can engage in all the same programs and events as everyone else. In fact, many even consider the local beedie toting ricksha wallahs to be on a special platform as they were both born in Sri Dham Mayapur (something to be considered quite special) and they serve devotees all day by transporting them around.

Sri Dham Mayapur is one of those places that needs to be seen and experienced with one's own senses to really grasp it. Mayapur certainly is the material manifestation of Bhakti, and these words and few pictures certainly can't do it's name justice.

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Comments

[ganes]

need videos
Hare krishna,the pictures all are very dark but it nice.my comment is pls put any videos based on events.

[Divya]

These photos simply look cute
Hare Krsna! These photos are simply awesome. If I am not mistaken, are these the photos taken in the month of Karthik? Hari Bol, Divya

[Ram Niwas Yadav]

Hare Krishna
Thanks for.

[vijay]

visit sri mayapur dham
i want to see this dham with my family in the monthe of december date 24 or 25th