Nabadwip Dham – City of Sri Chaitanya

Nabadwip, on the west bank of the Bhagirathi opposite Mayapur, is one of the holiest towns of Bengal — the city of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and, for centuries, the greatest seat of Sanskrit learning in eastern India, famed as the 'Oxford of Bengal'. Founded in the 11th century, it was a capital of the Sena kings; here Lakshmana Sena ruled until the Turkic conquest of Bengal in 1203. In the 15th–16th centuries Nabadwip's tols (Sanskrit academies) drew students from across India — this is the town of the Navya Nyaya school of logic, of the great scholar Raghunatha Shiromani, and of the smriti authority Raghunandana. Into this world of scholars, Sri Chaitanya was born in 1486 and grew up as the brilliant young pandit Nimai, before renouncing everything at 24 to spread the path of divine love through the congregational chanting of Krishna's names — the movement that transformed Bengal's religious life. The town's most sacred shrine is the Dhameshwar Mahaprabhu Temple, where the deity of Sri Chaitanya said to have been worshipped by his wife Vishnupriya Devi after his sannyasa is enshrined; the temple continues her worship after five centuries. Other major sites include the Poramatala shrine, Sonar Gauranga temple, the ancient Hanseshwari and Bhavatarini temples, and dozens of historic Gaudiya Vaishnava maths and akhras through the old lanes. Nabadwip is also famous for its Shakta side — its grand Rash Yatra, when huge deities of the goddess in many forms are worshipped and processed through the town, is unique in Bengal. Reached by ferry from Mayapur across the river, the town's temple lanes, sweet shops (try the famous 'lal doi' — red yoghurt) and living traditions make it the essential companion to a Mayapur pilgrimage.