By Acarya Dasa
On August 25th we traveled to Srirangam also known as Rangakshetra, in South India. Srirangam is an island surrounded by the Kaveri River on one side and the Kaveri tributary, Kollidam, on the other. The island forms part of the city of Tiruchirapalli. This place is home to a beautiful temple housing the deity of Sri Ranganatha Swami. Sri Ranganatha is a two-armed form of Lord Vishnu reclining on the divine serpent Ananta Sesa.
Lord Caitanya in Srirangam
Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu visited Srirangam during his South India pilgrimage. He spent four months there in the monsoon season during the months of caturmasya vrata and stayed at the home of a brahmana named Vyenkata Bhatta. Vyenkatta Bhatta’s son, Gopala, who was seven years old at the time, served Lord Caitanya continuously during His stay, and as a result, the boy developed an intense love for the Lord. While staying with Vyenkatta Bhatta’s family Lord Caitanya longed for Lord Jagannath in Puri. In this mood of separation, Mahaprabhu lovingly carved His own set of Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra deities, which to this day, reside not far from the Bhatta family’s original home. The family descendants of Vyenkata Bhatta also continue to live in Srirangam.
Janmastami celebrations
There is an ISKCON temple in Srirangam called Sri Jagannath Mandir. The devotees there arranged our accommodation at a life member’s house. They were very happy to receive our padayatra party in their town. We stayed and celebrated Janmastami at the temple all padayatris chanted 64 rounds and went on sankirtana with their Lordships. We also had ecstatic kirtana in the temple courtyard with all the devotees who had come to take darsana that day. Initially, when they saw our party, they thought we were there to take darsana but when we told them we were doing padayatra they were very inspired. Many of them joined us on sankirtana and guided us around their city. We went on sankirtana in the city and to the places where Caitanya Mahaprabhu had visited. Thus we remembered the pastimes of Caitanya Mahaprabhu while we were there. In the evening there was abhishek at the temple of the Sri Sri Radha Krsna deities followed by katha, kirtana, and cultural programs. This was how we celebrated Janmastami in Srirangam under the shelter of Lord Ranganatha.
