Bālasā – Śrīpāṭa of Nityānanda Prabhu’s disciple Śrī Mīnaketana Rāmadāsa

Bālasā is situated in the district of Bīrbhūm. Boarding a train from Howrāh or Bandel to Rāmapurhāṭa, one can get down at Rāmapurhāṭa station. From there one should travel twenty kilometers by bus towards Ḍuni- grāma and get down at Bālasā crossing. From there one can travel three kilometers by walking or by rickshaw- van to reach this Śrīpāṭa.

This is the Śrīpāṭa of Nityānanda Prabhu’s disciple Śrī Mīnaketana Rāmadāsa. Presently, Śrī Śrī Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma Deities are worshiped here. Mīnaketana Rāmadāsa belonged to Śrī Nityānanda branch of Saṅkarṣaṇa-vyūha. He was always immersed in ecstasy of love of Godhead with the symptoms of tears, shivering and so on. The pastimes of Mīnaketana Rāmadāsa have been described in Śrī Caitanya- caritāmṛta which was exhibited in the courtyard of Śrila Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja’s house at Jhāmaṭapura (Ādi- līlā, 5/163-164, 166-167)-

mahā-prema-maya tiṅho vasilā aṅgane
sakala vaiṣṇava tāṅra vandilā caraṇe

namaskāra karite, kā’ra uparete caḍe
preme kā're vaṁśī māre, kāhāre cāpaḍe

kabhu kona aṅge dekhi pulaka-kadamba
eka aṅge jāḍya tāṅra āra aṅge kampa

nityānanda bali' yabe karena huṁkāra
tāhā dekhi' lokera haya mahā-camatkāra

As translated by Śrīla Prabhupāda-Absorbed in emotional love, he sat in my courtyard, and all the Vaiṣṇavas bowed down at his feet. In a joyful mood of love of God, he sometimes climbed upon the shoulder of someone offering obeisances, and sometimes he struck others with his flute or mildly slapped them. Sometimes there were eruptions of ecstasy like kadamba flowers on some parts of his body, and sometimes one limb would be stunned while another would be trembling. Whenever he shouted aloud the name Nityānanda, the people around were filled with great wonder and astonishment.

In this way, he was absorbed in the mood of freindly mellows. The standard of worship here appears to be good.

Co-ordinates (copy-paste for easy search on Google Maps): 24.22118139904695, 87.95035219025141