Koladvipa

The fifth island of Navadvipa Dham embodies the devotional mellow of pada sevanam, serving the lotus feet of the Lord. This island is on the western side of the Ganges. The present town of Navadvipa is in Koladvipa and during Lord Caitanya’s time was known as Kuliya. It is said that anyone who visits here will be freed from all sinful reactions.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur wrote in an article that the island of Koladvipa is unparalleled on this earth, and that this place is also known as Sripad Kuliya. Koladvipa is where Sri Koladeva (also known as Lord Varaha) manifested.

On the bank of the Ganges at the Pancaveni confluence, on the western side of the Ganges is Sri Kuliya Hill. During Satya yuga there was a brahmana named Vasudeva who resided there. He would worship Lord Varaha there. Sri Koladeva (Lord Varaha) being pleased with the worship of this brahmana manifested Himself for the pleasure of His devotee. He was as tall as a mountain touching the sky. He told His devotee Vasudeva that Sri Navadvipa Dham was dear to Him and that in the three worlds there is no comparison to Navadvipa. He also told him that in Kali yuga He would perform His pastimes there. By serving Navadvipa all holy places are served and by living in Navadvipa one attains the benefits of living at all the other holy places.

This place is nondifferent from Govardhana Hill. As in Vrindavana the northern side of this place is Bahulavana and the southern side is Rasa Sthali. Vasudeva called this place Koladvipa Parvata (kola-boar and parvata-mountian).

This place is also called Aparadha Bharjan Parta or the place where all offenses are destroyed. Lord Caitanya delivered two great offenders at this place, named Gopala Cakravarti and Devananda Pandita. When Lord Caitanya came here, on the way from Jagannatha Puri to Vrindavana, He stayed at the house of Madhava Dasa in Kuliya for seven days. At that time many atheists and blasphemers came and fell at the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya, and the Lord excused them of their offenses and gave them love of Krishna.
When Lord Caitanya stayed at the house of Madhava Dasa many hundreds of thousands of people came to see Him. Everyone began to embrace one another because they heard the good news of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s arrival. Thus all the inhabitants of Kuliya, the sinful, intermediate, and spiritually advanced, were delivered and glorified by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Navadvipa City
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Samudra Garh (Samudragada)
Samudra Garh is in the southwestern side of Sri Koladvipa. It is located in the southern most border of Navadvipa Dham. This place is considered non-different from Bahulavana in Braja. It is also considered to be the same as Dwarka and Ganga Sagara (where the Ganges meets the Bay of Bengal). This place is called Samudra Garh because the ocean (samudra) wished to have the darshan of Lord Caitanya. The ocean traveled to this place through the medium of the Ganges. The ocean resided in Sri Navadvipa Dham and therefore had the opportunity to have the darshan of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

How To Get There This place is several km south of the city of Navadvipa. You can get here by bus or by bike rickshaw. It is outside a village. There is a large tree that marks this place on the bank of the Ganges, which stands all by itself. Unless you go with someone who knows this place it most likely will be difficult to find.

Samudra Sen’s Capital
During Dwapara yuga, a great devotee of Lord Krishna named Samudra Sen ruled this area. At this time Maharaja Yudhisthira was performing a Rajasuya sacrifice. When a Rajasuya sacrifice is performed all the rulers on the earth have to plead allegiance to Maharaja Yudhisthira or the sacrifice could not be performed. Yudhisthira sent his four brothers, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva in the four directions to receive tribute from all the kingdoms.

Bhima was sent to the eastern part of India. He proceeded unconquered until he reached Koladvipa, where the kingdom of Samudra Sen was situated. Samudra Sen wanted to have the darshan of Lord Krishna. He knew that if Bhima was in difficulty Lord Krishna would come. He reasoned that Krishna would personally come to rescue him.

When Bhima arrived he sent his aides to demand tribute for Maharaja Yudhisthira. Samudra Sen told the aides that he would not pay tribute and that Bhima should prepare to fight. When Samudra Sen charged onto the battlefield with his army Bhima found himself consumed by an army greater than his own. Bhima then called for the help of Krishna. Lord Krishna then appeared on the battlefield, in response to his devotee’s call for help, but only Samudra Sen could see him. At this time Lord Krishna told him that he would appear as Lord Caitanya and he showed him His form of Lord Gauranga. At this point the Lord became unmanifested. Samudra Sen then commanded his troops to stop fighting and he paid tribute to Bhima.

How To Get There The place where Samudra Sena had his capital is marked by a tree in a village here. There is a concrete platform about 3m by 3m under the tree.

Champahatti (Campahati)
This place is in the southwest part of Sri Koladvipa. The previous name of this place was Champakahatta. This place is named after the campaka trees that grow profusely in this area. There was once a campaka forest at this place. Champahatti means “place of the Champa.” Hatti means “place.”

Jayadeva Gosvami wrote Gita-govinda nearby. This place is considered non-differed from the forest of Khadiravana in Vrindavana. Campakalata Sakhi comes here daily to pick flowers and then strings garlands from campaka flowers and offers them to Radha and Krishna. The Manasi Ganga River used to flow here, but it cannot be seen now. It used to separate Koladvipa from Ritudvipa. In Braja, Manasi Ganga is a large lake in the middle of Govardhana and here it is seen as a river.

In Satya yuga an old brahmana used to live here in a big garden of campaka flowers. He used to worship the Deities of Radha Govinda with those campaka flowers. Being pleased with this brahmana, Lord Caitanya gave him His darshan in His form of Lord Gauranga, Who has the bodily hue of a fresh campaka flower. He told this brahmana that He would appear during Kali yuga and distribute the holy names of Krishna and love of Krishna. He also told the brahmana that He would take birth at this time as the Lord associate, Vaninath Pandita. During Krishna-lila this brahmana was Kamalaka Sakhi. He appeared in Gaura-lila as Dvija Vaninath, the younger brother of Gadadhara Pandita.

There is a temple here called Sri Gaura Gadadhara Gaudiya Math which was established by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Maharaja. The Deities in this temple, Gaura-Gadadhara, were worshipped by Vaninath Pandita, Gadadhara Pandita’s brother, 500 years ago, while Lord Caitanya and Gadadhara were still on the planet. The Deities are very large and both of them stand with palms outstretched. This temple was renovated by Sri Paramananda Brahmacari, one of the disciples of Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur. Seventy years ago this place was just a jungle. Lord Nityananda and Jiva Gosvami had darshan of these Deities.

How To Get There This place is about 5 km south of the city of Navadvipa, near the Purvasthali police station and the post office in Samudragada. It is down a side street, about a half km off the main road of a village. From the main road you go through a gray arch to get to this place. This village can be reached by bus or bike rickshaw from Navadvipa. Champahatti is 2 miles from both Samudragada and the Navadvipa station on the eastern railway.

Jayadeva Gosvami at Champahatti
Jayadeva Gosvami wrote the famous poem Gita Govinda at Champahatti. Jayadeva Gosvami was the court pandita of the King of Bengal, Sri Laksmana Sena. On the eastern bank of the Ganges Jayadeva had his bhajan kutir, close to the king’s palace. After some time he left that place and came to this place with his wife Padmavati. Lord Caitanya manifested himself to Jayadeva and told him that in the future He would take birth in Navadvipa Dham in the womb of Sacidevi.
Lord Caitanya would become ecstatic when he heard Svarupa Damodara or Mukunda sing Gita Govinda. In part of this poem Lord

Narasimhadeva is glorified, keshava dhrita narahari rupa, jaya jagadisha hare; jaya jagadisha hare, jaya jagadhisha hare.

One day while worshiping Lord Krishna, Lord Caitanya appeared before Jayadeva with the complexion of a campaka flower, with the radiance of molten gold. The beauty of a million moons would have been put to shame by His beautiful face. He had curly hair and a garland of flowers around His neck. Seeing this form of the Lord, Jayadeva and his wife Padmavati fainted. The Lord lifted the couple and spoke to them. He told them that He would take birth in Nadia from the womb of Saci Devi and that He would distribute Krishna kirtana and prema. He also told them to go to Puri and that they would attain love of Godhead by worshiping Lord Jagannatha.

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