Mayapur: Kirtan Capital of the World: The Place of Compassion
Dear Friends,I'm sorry you haven't heard from me in such a long time. Lots of travel in many places. For two weeks in January, my son, Gaura Vani and I led a kirtan pilgrimage adventure with a group of twenty-four friendly and adventurous pilgrims around sacred and historic sites in Maharashtra, ending our time together with four days at the Govardhan Eco Village, and then culminating at the ecstatic Flower Festival at Radha Gopinath temple in Mumbai. Some of you on this email chain were there with us. It was a most magical time. Let me see if I can fill in some blanks for you now since I've been MIA.Since the beginning of February, I've been in Sridham Mayapur, the birthplace of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, on the banks of the Ganges River, about four hours north of Kolkata in West Bengal, on the other side of India from where we were before.
I lived here from 1972-1974. Gaura Vani's father and I came here along with a group of other artists to learn the Bengali art of "putul", the making of clay dolls that are used in dioramas and religious festivals. Prabhupada's guru, Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati had created enormous, what he called Theistic Exhibitions, using these dolls to illustrate points of philosophy or lilas, pastimes of Krsna.At the time, these exhibitions were like a World's Fair, showcasing the latest advances in medicine, science, and education. At that time, in the 1930's, rigid caste brahmins objected to his innovative outreach. They said, " This is not Bhakti! This is against our traditions!" He replied in an extraordinary way. He said that the Ganges River changes her course over the centuries. If you are still taking your bath where the Ganges used to flow, what does that say about you? They were quiet after that.
So our guru, Srila Prabhupada asked us to come here to Mayapur-- to do what? Gaura's father was a bit bewildered by the request. He's a brilliant painter and had illustrated many of Prabhupada's books from the beginning on their publication in 1969. Have you read The Krishna Book, with the introduction by George Harrison? Starting with that publication, his charming paintings were appearing in dozens of books. Now this accomplished painter was being asked to learn to make clay dolls. He was nonplussed, but the order of the guru is sacred. So off we went.He was a much better painter than I was. Once in Boston, Prabhupada had seen one of my paintings and then, one of his. Prabhupada honestly said,"The husband is better". After living in Mayapur and working on learning this putul art of doll making, Prabhupada was looking at what we'd learned. I had made one diorama of Radha Krsna, Gaura's Dad had made another one of Lord Caitanya. Somehow, the faces on mine were a bit better. Prabhupada looked and said, "The wife is better". It was quite funny at the time, since it had been over two years since he'd made the last comment about the husband being better. Prabhupada didn't miss a beat.[perfectpullquote align="left" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size="18"]When love is so freely given, the omnipotent Supreme Lord becomes so vulnerable, He becomes a prisoner in the heart of such rare devotees who love Him in that way.[/perfectpullquote]So this Sridham Mayapur is a very sacred place. Vrndavan is called Madhurya Dham: the place of Bhakti in the sweetness of conjugal love, or the love of Radha and Krsna. Mayapur is called Audharya Dham: the place of compassion, where that love is being freely given without discrimination to anyone and everyone by Sri Caitanya, as the form of Radha and Krsna combined.The wisdom books of Bhakti describe that God, or Krsna, owns and controls everything in existence except one thing: your love, my love, freely given. And He hankers after that. He is hungry for that. As an offering, He accepts only that. It's not the flower, or the fruit or the money. He only hankers for our love. And, of course, love must be freely given or it's not love, it's force. When love is so freely given, the omnipotent Supreme Lord becomes so vulnerable, He becomes a prisoner in the heart of such rare devotees who love Him in that way.When we first came here in 1972, it was all rice fields, as far as the eye could see, with a few temples commemorating Lord Caitanya's birthplace dotting the landscape here and there.When I arrived here this year at the end of January, it was all a bit overwhelming. I hadn't been here in fifteen years and it was all unrecognizable. The immense Temple of the Vedic Planetarium is under construction here, and there are residential and educational buildings everywhere. If you'd like, you can check it out at: sridhammayapur.org.I'm looking out the window of my room right now and the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Smt. Mamata Bannerjee has just arrived by helicopter. There are international flags surrounding the helicopter pad, showing the fulfillment of the prediction of Bhaktivinode Thakur ( the father of Prabhupada's guru, who had sent his books to Ralph Waldo Emerson and various universities in the West in 1896, the year of Prabhupada's birth). He had said that one day the people of the many countries of the world would join together with their Bengali brothers and sisters to chant the name of Sri Caitanya, "Jaya Sacinandana! Jaya Sacinandana!" All glories to the son of Saci, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu!"
A few days ago, they hoisted the Sudarshan Chakras above the domes of the new temple construction. You can go online to view the ceremony. It was stunningly beautiful. Wikipedia defines Sudarshan Chakra as a spinning disk-like weapon for destroying negativity. It gives the vision of that which is auspicious. These disks were placed on the top of the domes in the ceremony the other day. They are up on top now, gleaming in the sunlight.
The Mayapur International Kirtan festival begins here in a few days. The website says that this is the Kirtan Capital of the World. It's the place of origin of the kirtan, or sankirtan ( all joining together in kirtan) movement begun by Lord Caitanya.
I return to the US on February, 20th. My four-month sojourn in India this year has come to an end. These are poignant and nostalgic moments for me now. Perhaps we can plan another kirtan pilgrimage adventure for next year in the coming days and months.[table id=3 /]I look forward to hearing from you or seeing you soon at Bhakti Center in New York.All the best,Rukmini Walker