Astounding Feat for ISKCON in Malaysia


ORIGINAL ARTICLE: ISKCONMALAYSIA.COM
Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple of Devotion and Understanding (TODU) in Penang
SEBERANG JAYA - With the soothing blue lights radiating over the recently opened Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple of Devotion and Understanding in Penang, it felt like being in a land where the dreams comes true. And it was indeed a dream come true for Srila Prabhupada's desire to see a temple like that in Vrindavan built in Malaysia.  "I want a temple like this" he remarked when he was in Malaysia from 3rd to 7th May in 1971. And in Malaysia, we now have two new temples opened within just a difference of a couple of days. One in Penang and another in Ipoh. Absolutely gorgeous deities were installed in both temples. In Penang, the presiding deities have been named by HH Jayapataka Swami with a very apt and lovable name that is used by most devotees here to call their children - Kana, a pet name of Krishna, hence the name Krishna Kanaiya. Sri Sri Radha Krishna Kanaiya together with the older Sri Sri Gauranga Rai deities looked absolutely magnificent and just their presence in the spectacular and artistic temple made it look like being in Vrindavan. Deena Bandhu Prabhu a Vrindavan Dham resident described this temple as the "Pearl of ISKCON" taking after Penang which is know as the "Pearl of the Orient".

Sri Sri Radha Krishna Kanaiya in TODU, Penang
Sri Sri Nitai Gauranga Rai in TODU, Penang
In Ipoh, a smaller temple was consecrated and Sri Sri Parama Karuna Nitai Gauranga deities were installed. We have been very lucky to have the marble Gauranga and Nitai deities in places that Srila Prabhupada visited in Malaysia i.e. Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, Teluk Intan and Penang. Indeed the seeds planted by Srila Prabhupada has sprouted and with our travelling deities Sri Sri Jagannnatha, Baladev and Subhadra Devi going on ratha yatra to the nooks and corners in Malaysia over 20 times in a year, it is just a matter of time before we inundate Malaysia with love of Godhead. 
Sri Sri Parama Karuna Nitai Gauranga in Ipoh

Sri Gaura Arati

Text One
(kiba) jaya jaya gaurachander aratiko shobha
jahnavi-tata-vane jaga-mana-lobha
All glories, all glories to the beautiful arati ceremony of Lord Chaitanya! This Gaura-arati is being performed in a grove on the bank of the Ganges and is captivating everyone in the universe.



Text Two
dakhine nitaichand, bame gadadhara
nikate adwaita, shrinivasa chatra-dhara
On Lord Chaitanya’s right is Lord Nityananda, and on His left is Shri Gadadhara. Nearby stands Shri Advaita, and Shrivasa Thakura holds an umbrella over Lord Chaitanya’s head.

Text Three
bosiyache gaurachand ratna-simhasane
arati koren brahma-adi deva-gane
Lord Chaitanya has sat down on a jeweled throne, and Lord Brahma and the other demigods are performing His arati.

Yoga-pitha: The birth site of Sri Chaitanya

Yoga Pitha
The temple at Yoga-pitha, established by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur
 
Lord Chaitanya is the teacher of the religion of transcendental love of Sri Krishna. He was born at Sridham Mayapur in the year 1486. For a long time it was believed that the real site of birth of the Lord were washed away by the river Bhagirathi. However these places were later discovered with painstaking effort by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura in the year 1887. In 1893, Bhaktivinoda Thakura established Yoga-pitha as the actual site of Lord Chaitanya's appearance. He personally collected the funds to purchase this land and built a small temple here.

Extract from an article published in the magazine, Harmonist dated March 31, 1935

A great shrine, externally one of the biggest in Bengal, was opened to worship on the 20th of March by His Highness Maharaja Vira Vikrama Kisora Deva Varman Manikya Bahadura of the Tripura State, at Sridham Mayapura (old Nabadwip), on the birth-site of the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna-Chaitanya. The Temple is 125 feet high. Its donor is a merchant of Calcutta, Sriyukta Sakhi-carana Raya Bhakti-vijaya, a devoted servant of Sridhama Mayapura.
 
Sridham Mayapur is located 130 km from Kolkata, West Bengal. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu enacted His pastimes here until He adopted the renounced order of life (sannyasa) at 24 years of age. His birthplace, known as the Yoga-pitha, is on the banks of the holy river Ganga.  After Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura discovered this place he organized to build a beautiful temple here with the Deities of Mahaprabhu and His consorts Vishnupriya and Lakshmipriya. 

There is a neem tree in the courtyard at Yoga-pitha that marks the exact spot where Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was born. There are also Deities of Mahaprabhu as a child along with His parents, Sachi-devi and Jagannatha Misra. 

Jagannatha Misra and Sachi Devi Holding Little Chaitanya
The Deities of Jagannatha Misra and Sachi Devi holding little Chaitanya

10 Scripture That Reveal Lord Chaitanya’s Identity as Lord Krishna

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the pioneer of the modern Hare Krishna movement, appeared in Mayapur, West Bengal over 500 years ago. He is Krishna Himself, who appeared to inaugurate the yuga-dharma – the Harinama Sankirtana (congregational chanting of the holy names of the Lord).

He never disclosed Himself as the incarnation of the Lord and exemplified the life of a perfect devotee, so that others can follow in His footsteps. However, this fact is corroborated in many authorized scriptures and also confirmed by great spiritual masters of our sampradaya. The descriptions of Lord Chaitanya in terms of His appearance, bodily features, characteristics and pastimes as found in the several works of His celebrated associates and great devotees completely conform to those predicted in the Vedic literatures. In this article we present certain important verses from some of the well-known Vedic literatures to substantiate the identity of Lord Chaitanya as the Supreme Lord Krishna.

(1) Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.5.32)

Harinama Sankirtana Movement
krishna-varnam tvishakrishnam sangopangastra-parshadam
yajnaih sankirtana-prayair yajanti hi sumedhasah


 
In the age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the holy name of Krishna. Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Krishna Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons and confidential companions.

krsna-varnam: This word denotes that Lord Chaitanya belongs to the category of Krishna or in other words He is Krishna Himself. krsna-varnam also means one who constantly chants the name of Lord Krishna.
tvisa akrsnam: His bodily complexion is not black. He appeared in golden-like yellow complexion.
sangopangastra-parsadam: Lord Chaitanya is always accompanied by His confidential associates like Lord Nityananda, Advaita Acharya, Sri Gadadhara Pandita, Srivasa Acharya, Haridasa Thakura, etc. In other incarnations, the Lord sometimes made use of His weapons to defeat or kill the demons, but in this age the Lord subdues the demonic mentality with His all-attractive figure of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who freely distributes Krishna-prema, pure love of Krishna. That is His weapon.

(2) Vishnu-sahasra-nama stotra from Mahabharata

Each of the 1000 names contained in the Vishnu-sahasra-nama stotra that is found in the

Appearance Day of Srila Gopala Bhatta Goswami

Shri Gopala Bhatta Goswami (the son of a Vyenkata Bhatta, a Shri Vaishnava brahmana) appeared in Shri Rangam, South India. Lord Chaitanya once stayed four months in his home, and converted the family to Gaudiya Vaishnavism.


 Shri Gopala Bhatta Goswami (the son of a Vyenkata Bhatta, a Shri Vaishnava brahmana) appeared in Shri Rangam, South India. Lord Chaitanya once stayed four months in his home, and converted the family to Gaudiya Vaishnavism. A mere boy at this time, Gopala personally served the Lord. Shri Chaitanya treated him affectionately giving His remnants and blessings to' become an acharya. 

   During His four month stay, Lord Chaitanya developed a close friendship with Vyenkata Bhatta, which Krishna Dasa Kaviraja describes as "sakhya rasa." Freely conversing with each other, they would often laugh and joke together. One day in a humorous mood Lord Chaitanya asked Vyenkata: 

   "Why does your worshipable goddess of fortune, Shri Lakshmidevi, abandon the happiness of Vaikuntha and her service to Her Lord Narayana? Why does she go to Vrindavana and perform severe austerities to attain the association of My Lord Gopala, the cowherd boy of Vraja?" 

   "I can't understand these mysteries," said Vyenkata, "but You, being the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, can surely enlighten me."
   "Lord Krishna has one' unique quality," said Lord Gauranga, "He attracts the hearts of everyone with His personal conjugal love (madhurya). Lord Narayana only has sixty transcendental qualities but Shri Krishna has sixty-four. And all of them are saturated with His unique quality of madhurya (honey sweetness). The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Shri Krishna, attracts the mind of Lakshmidevi. But Lord Narayana can never attract the minds of the Vraja gopis. 

   "In Vraja lila, Krishna, disguised as Lord Narayana, once appeared before the gopis who were searching for Krishna. Seeing Lord Narayana the gopis said, '0h Lord Narayana, pranams. Where did Krishna go, did You see?' By following the gopis, who spontaneously love Krishna without awareness of His Godhood, one can attain Krishna. The Srutis worshiped Krishna in the ecstasy of the gopis. Following in their footsteps, they received gopi's bodies to join Krishna in the rasa dance. Lakshmi, however, wanted to enjoy Krishna but retain Her spiritual form as Lakshmidevi. Without following the gopis's footsteps no one can attain Krishna."

On pilgrimage he obtained twelve Shalagrama shilas. Later the Damodara shila manifested Himself as the beautiful Radha Ramana Deity. Since 1542, Radha Ramanaji has been worshiped with pure devotion following precise sastric rituals. (In the image: Shri Radha Raman, Shri Vrindavan, Dham).

    After receiving initiation from Shri Prabodhananda Saraswati, Gopala Bhatta came to Vrindavana and became a dear friend of Shri Rupa and Sanatana Goswamis. He did bhajana in Vrindavana for forty-five years, mostly at Radha-Kunda.
 
   On pilgrimage he obtained twelve Shalagrama shilas. Later the Damodara shila manifested Himself as the beautiful Radha Ramana Deity. Since 1542, Radha Ramanaji has been worshiped with pure devotion following precise sastric rituals.

   Lord Chaitanya ordered Gopala Bhatta to write a book to check the spread of pseudo-loving rasas and negligence to vaidhi bhakti. In corroboration with Shri Sanatana Goswami he compiled the Hari-bhakti-vilasa, the authorized book explaining the ritual and devotional practices of the Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradaya. He also wrote Sat-kriya-dipika and the outline for Shri Jiva Goswami's Sat Sandarbhas.

   He eternally serves Shrimati Radharani as one of Her asta manjaris, Guna-manjari. His samadhi is within Radha Ramanaji's Temple compound behind the appearance place of the Deity. Shri Gopala Bhatta Goswami initiated Gopinatha (Pujari Goswami), a lifelong brahmachari who served Radha Ramanaji for his whole life. Gopala Bhatta Goswami initiated Shrinivasa Acharya and many other stalwart Vaishnavas. 


Appearance Day of Srila Gopala Bhatta Goswami
Appearance Day of Srila Gopala Bhatta Goswami
Appearance Day of Srila Gopala Bhatta Goswami
Appearance Day of Srila Gopala Bhatta Goswami
Appearance Day of Srila Gopala Bhatta Goswami
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Appearance Day of Srila Gopala Bhatta Goswami