Cākhandī

Appearance place of Śrīla Śrīnivāsa Ācārya

Cākhandī is situated in the district of Nadia. It is located at four and half kilometers north of Agradvīpa. At first, one can get down at Dāṅihāṭa station in Bandel-Kāṭwā railway route. Then one can come to Kālikāpura by trekker or rickshaw-van. Then by crossing the river one can come to Sādhugrāma, and again crossing the river one can come to Kulavana village, and again crossing the river one can come to this Śrīpāṭa (One has to cross river three times in this route from Dāṅihāṭa). Or else, by boarding a train from Seāldaha towards Lālgolā, one should get down at Devagrāma station and then from there one can travel eight kilometers by rickshaw-van to reach this Śrīpāṭa. Besides this, one can get down at Bethuyāḍaharī station (instead of getting down at Devagrāma) and then avail the bus service towards Agradvīpa for coming to Kulīpotā. From there one can travel by rickshaw-van for five/six kilometers through the non-metalled road and reach this Śrīpāṭa via Ākanāḍāṅgā and Khosālapura villages.

Śrīnivāsa Ācārya Ṭhākura, the manifestation form of Śrī Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu, appeared here. His father’s name was Gaṅgādhara Bhaṭṭācārya and mother’s name was Lakṣmīpriyā Ṭhākurāṇī. The day Mahāprabhu took sannyāsa in Keśava Bhāratī’s āśrama at Kāṭwā; Gaṅgādhara Bhaṭṭācārya went to Kāṭwā on that day to witness the ceremony. Keśava Bhāratī gave Mahāprabhu’s name as Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, then Gaṅgādhara Bhaṭṭācārya started dancing by uttering the name ‘Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya’ ‘Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya’. In this way, he reached Cākhandī village by uttering the name ‘Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya’ like a mad man. The village people, by seeing his deep attachment to Caitanya Mahāprabhu, gave him the name Caitanya Dāsa.

After few years, Caitanys Dāsa and his wife Lakṣmīpriyā Ṭhākurāṇī went to Śrī Kṣetra and met Mahāprabhu. After staying for a few days there, Śrīman Mahāprabhu gave him a boon, “You return to Cākhandī, and you will give birth to a son who will especially preach My message in this world.” In this way, by accepting this blessing from Śrīman Mahāprabhu, they came back to Cākhandī village. After sometime, Śrīnivāsa Ācārya appeared as their son. This is described in Śrī Bhakti Ratnākara (1/862)-

śrī cākhandī-nāme grāma suradhanīra tīre
tathāhi janmilā vipra caitanyera ghare

Cākhandī village was situated on the banks of the Ganges and Śrīnivāsa Ācārya appeared there in the house of the brāhmaṇa, Caitanya Dāsa.

In this way, Śrīnivāsa Ācārya Ṭhākura spent his boyhood in Cākhandī village. Within a short time he became a learned person. He went to Śrīdhāma Vṛndāvana and took initiation from Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī. Then he studied devotional scriptures from Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī. He returned to Bengal with the books of the Gosvāmīs by the order of Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī. At that time, his mother ordered him, ‘Your maternal grand father has passed away. You have inherited his property. From now-on, you do not stay in Cākhandī, but stay in Yājigrāma.’ Since then, Śrīnivāsa Ācārya Ṭhākura started living in Yājigrāma and preached Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s message of loving devotional service.

At present, Śrīnivāsa Ācārya Ṭhākura's birth place has gone under the water of the Ganges. Nowadays, one Śrīpāṭa of Śrīnivāsa Ācārya Ṭhākura can be seen on the eastern side of the Ganges and the worship of Śrī Śrī Gaura-Nitāi and Śrī Rādha-Kṛṣṇa is conducted there.

Cātrā Vallabhapura Śrīpāṭa of Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu's associates Kāśīśvara Paṇḍita, Śrīnātha Paṇḍita and Rudra Paṇḍita

Cātrā Vallabhapura is situated in the district of Hoogly. Boarding a train from Howrāh to Bandel, one can get down at Śrīrāmapura station. From there, one can travel two kilometers by rickshaw-van or by walking to come to this Śrīpāṭa which is located on the other side of Khaḍadaha.

This is the Śrīpāṭa of Kāśīśvara Paṇḍita, Śrīnātha

Paṇḍita and Rudra Paṇḍita, the associates of Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu. The famous Ratha-yātrā of Māheśa is located in this area. Lord Jagannātha of Māheśa Ratha-yātrā used to come before to Śrī Rādhā-Vallabha temple at Vallabhapura. After the Bengali year 1262, that Ratha does not come here due to some misunderstanding between the worshipers of these two places. It is described in Śrīpāṭa Nirṇaya-

cātrā vallabhapura khaḍadahera pāḍa
kāśīśvara śaṅkarāranya śrīnātha paṇḍita āra

rudra paṇḍitera sevā rādhā-vallabha nāma
bhuvana-mohana rūpa abhinava kāma

Cātrā Vallabhapura is located just across Khaḍadaha. Kāśīśvara, Śaṅkarāranya and Śrīnātha Paṇḍita were living there. Rudra Paṇḍita was worshiping the Deities named Rādhā-Vallabha, Who had the most beautiful and lustrous form.

The Rādhā-Vallabhajī Deities were brought by Śrī Vīracandra Gosvāmī from Gauḍa and this was the second Deity made of Teliyā-stone installed in Vallabhapura. These Deities were worshiped by Śrī Rudra Paṇḍita. At present, Vallabhajī’s temple is situated just adjacent to the ferry-ghāṭa of Vallabhapura. Kāśīśvara Paṇḍita’s temple is situated in the locality of Chowdhuris.