 Mayapur, located about 65 miles north of Calcutta in West Bengal, India, is the birth place of Lord Caitanya, headquarters of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness, and is surrounded by the other “islands” forming Navadvipa, on the banks of the Ganga river. It is a very holy pilgrimage site, considered non-different from Vrndavana, thus it is called
“The Holy Dhama.”
“May the Dhama of Sri Navadvipa, measuring sixteen krosas in circumference, which is the crest jewel of all holy places and the resting place of all demigods, rsis & the Vedas, and which is the principle manifestation of the Lord`s sandhini potency, eternal existence upon which His cit & ananda potencies reside, become visible to my eyes.
May my eyes see the sixteen krosas of Vrindavana within Mathuramandala as identical with Navadvipa within Gauramandala. These Dhamas are but manifestations of one principle which is infinite & purely spiritual, and which, only for differing pastimes of the Lord, has taken the form of two abodes. By that one inconceivable potency (acintya sakti), infinite and spiritual, the Lord has brought these two Dhamas into the material world, in order to liberate the living entities dwelling here. This is simply the mercy of Sri Krisna. May the maya-bound men see this Vrindavana & Navadvipa Dhama.”
- Navadvipa Bhava Taranga by Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur.
The whole of West Bengal, aside from Kolkata, is basically rural consisting of hundreds of small villages. Mayapur is surrounded by such villages, where people mostly make a living from farming, as labourers, milking cows and having small local businesses. West Bengal is one of the poorest states in India, and in the surrounding villages in Navadvipa, it is common to have one meal a day, consisting of only rice and a little chilly. Children are very malnourished. One villager related this sad story to us:
“If any family wants to get a bicycle for transport to work, we have to have maximum one meal a day, the whole family, no more! One bowl of rice each. And if any visitor should show up at our house during this time, the children have to go to bed with no food so that the visitor can eat, and the parents can eat to have strength to go to work. So it is the children who really suffer. Then after 6 months of living like that, we can save enough money to buy a bicycle for the family transport.”
“One who helps others reside in The Holy Dhama by supplying them food, clothes, and residence accumulates a million times more piety than one who resides there, because one who resides there delivers only himself whereas one who helps others reside there delivers himself as well as those he helps. “
- words from Srila Prabhodhananda Sarasvati. |
No one within a radius of 10 miles from any ISKCON Temple should go hungry.
- Srila Prabhupada
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Map of villages within the ten-mile radius from ISKCON Mayapur.
( click on map to see larger view )
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 The ISKCON Mayapur Temple |
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