Approx 130 kms north of Kolkata, Mayapur is situated on the banks of the Ganges, at its point of confluence with Jalangi, near Nabadwip. Being 
regarded as a Holy place as the birthplace of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Mayapur regarded as a special incarnation of Krishna in the mood of Radha.
Also, the headquarters of ISCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) are situated here. Another attraction is Srila Prabhupada’s Pushpa Samadhi Mandir, a memorial to ISKCON‘s founder.
Chaitanya’s Birthplace Yogapith: 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 Nabadwip instead. After some difficulty, in 1887 Bhaktivinoda was transferred to Krishnanagar, a district center twenty-five kilometers away from Nabadwip, famous as the birth place of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Despite of his poor health, Bhaktivinoda started visiting places of research connected to Chaitanya. Not many days passed before he arrived at the conclusion, that the site purported by the local Brahmins as the birthplace of Chaitanya could not possibly be genuine. He was determined to find the original birthplace, but could not due to lack of reliable evidences and clues. One night, he saw a vision :
Photo: Wikipedia
“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.”
Taking this as a clue, Bhaktivinoda conducted a painstaking research,by
consulting old geographical maps matched against scriptural and verbal accounts, and came to a conclusion that the village of Ballaldighi was formerly known as Mayapur, confirmed in Bhakti-Ratnakara as the actual birth-sight of Chaitanya. He was later hailed as the “Seventh Goswami” by journalist Shishir Kumar Ghosh (1840-1911).
Mayapur can be reached by boat, and more commonly by train or bus. ISKON Kolkata operates regular bus service from Kolkata to Mayapur. Frequent train service is available to Krishnanagar, Nadia from Kolkata’s Sealdah Station.
Image: Searchpp
P.S: It’s a great place for a weekend travel. Do visit and refresh your minds. Also, a bit of information for Beatles fans- In 2002, the International Society of Krishna Consciousness was planning to construct a garden in memory of George Harrison.
The rest, find out yourself!
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