Simantadvipa

Simantadvipa is the second island of Sri Navadwipa Dham. It embodies the devotional mellow of sravanam, hearing about the pastimes of the Lord. Before and during the appearance of Lord Caitanya this area was called Simulia. This is where Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu delivered Chand Kazi, the Muslim magistrate.

This area contains Vishnunagar, Rajapur, Sen Danga, some portions of Vamanpukur, Kasthasali and some other places.
Story of Simantadvipa

One time in Satya yuga, Lord Siva was madly dancing and chanting the names of Gauranga. Parvati asked him, “Who was Gauranga? By seeing you dancing and hearing the names of Gauranga my heart is melting.” Siva then told her that Krishna will descend during Kali yuga in Mayapur, in the womb of Saci Devi. Lord Gauranga will distribute the jewel of love of Godhead to everyone without discrimination. I will live on the bank of the Ganges in a hut and worship Gauranga.

Parvati then went to Simantadvipa and meditated on Gauranga and chanted his name. After some time Lord Caitanya appeared with his associates to give His mercy to Parvati. He asked Parvati why she had come there. She told him that He had appointed her to bind all the living entities in the material world who were averse to Him. She told Him, “people say that where ever Krishna appears there will be no maya. I am therefore forced to remain outside of Your spiritual domain.” She asked to be able to see His pastimes.

Parvati then put the dust from Lord Caitanya’s feet on her simanta (the part in the hair). This is how this place got the name Simantadvipa.

Chand Kazi’s Samadhi (Tomb)
Chand Kazi was the chief magistrate of Navadvipa during the time of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The city magistrate was called the Kazi. The Zamindars or landholders levied taxes on the land, but keeping law and order and punishing criminals was the duty entrusted to the Kazi. It is said that Chand Kazi was the spiritual master of Nawab Hussain Shah. According to one opinion his name was Maulana Sirajuddina, and according to another his name was Habibara Rahamana. Descendants of Chand Kazi are still living in the vicinity of Mayapur.

After initially trying to impede the Lord’s sankirtana movement, he was converted and vowed that neither he nor his descendants would obstruct the chanting of Hare Krishna again. A champaka tree has sprung up from his tomb which is said to be over 500 years old. It grows along with a neem tree. In Sri Navadvipa Dhama Mahatmya it says that by seeing this samadhi one’s old age and disease are vanquished.

The village of Chand Kazi is considered non-different than Mathura. King Kamsa in Krishna-lila became Chand Kazi in Gaura-lila.

Nilambara Cakravarti, the father of Sacimata, lived near this place.

How To Get There This place is located about two kilometres past Lord Caitanya’s birthplace on the left side of the road, in the middle of a small village. It is located on the border of Sri Antardvipa.

Delivering Chand Kazi
Under the order of Hussain Shah, the king of Bengal, who was Jarasandha in Krishna-lila, Chand Kazi stopped the performance of kirtana. The Lord appeared to the Kazi as Narasimhadeva in a dream and put fear in the heart of the Kazi. Later, Lord Caitanya made him into a great devotee.

One day Chand Kazi went to the house of Srivasa Acarya and forcibly stopped the kirtana that was going on there. In the process one of the mridangas was broken. The Chand Kazi told the devotees: “No one should perform sankirtana on the streets of the city. The next time I see someone performing such sankirtana, certainly I shall chastise him by not only confiscating all his property, but also converting him into a Muslim.”
When Lord Caitanya heard about the harassment of the Kazi He became very angry and organized a mass Sankirtana party. That night the devotees formed many groups and went through the streets of Navadvipa eventually ending at the Kazi’s house. Lord Caitanya then had a discussion with the Kazi in which he proved on the strength of the scriptures that the highest form of worship was love of Radha and Krishna. Chand Kazi then told Lord Caitanya that he had just had a dream that Narasimhadeva came and started to rip his chest. After making a few scratches he stopped and told the Kazi. “Today you did not cause so much trouble, so I will allow you to live, but if you again try to interfere with the Sankirtana movement I will kill you and your entire family.” The Chand Kazi said, “After saying this, the lion left, but I was very much afraid of Him. Just see the marks of His nails on my heart.” The Kazi then showed his chest. Chand Kazi then told Lord Caitanya that he would never bother the Sankirtana movement again and neither would his descendants.

Jagannatha Temple (Sabara Danga)
There are beautiful Deities of Lord Jagannatha, Lord Balarama, and Lady Subhadra situated in this temple. When you enter the beautifully painted gate there are a series of dioramas (clay figures) that depict the pastimes of how these Deities were made. Lord Jagannatha daily receives a large food offering called Chapana Bhoga (56 preparations).
The story of the Deities in this temple begins five hundred years ago, during the time of Lord Caitanya. There lived at that time a devotee named Jagadish Ganguli, who used to go every year to Jagannatha Puri to see Lord Caitanya and Lord Jagannatha. In his old age he became blind and was unable to make the pilgrimage. Then one night Lord Jagannatha appeared to him in a dream and told him on the following day, when he took his bath in the Ganges, a log would touch his head and restore his vision. He was told to take that log to a certain devotee carpenter, to have him carve a Deity of Lord Jagannatha. The Lord told him that the carpenter would at first refuse, because he had leprosy, which would be cured when he finished carving the Deity.

When the Deity was completed, the devotee-leper was cured. Lord Jagannatha was carried to the site of the present temple, and His worship was established. A few nights later, Jagadish had a dream in which Lord Jagannatha instructed him to take some neem wood and request the same carpenter to make Deities of Lady Subhadra and Lord Baladeva, which he did. After Jagadish left this mortal world the Deities were gradually neglected and the temple collapsed.

Some centuries later a villager saw a beautiful blue flower on a termite hill. He went close to see it and was amazed to hear a voice calling “Please, please give Me some water. I’m so thirsty. Oh, please give Me some water.” Quickly he began digging and found Lord Jagannatha in the hill. He was astonished to see that although the Deities were in a termite hill, Their wood was unharmed. This happened about 60 years ago. In 1978 the aging pujari of the temple offered the service of Their Lordships and Their property to ISKCON.
It is said in the Vedic scriptures that the holy dhama of Sri Ksetra, Jagannatha Puri, is eternally manifest in this holy place. This place is considered non-different from Jagannatha Puri, because Lord Jagannatha eternally resides here. All the benefits one can attain by visiting Jagannatha Puri may be achieved by visiting the Sri Jagannatha Mandir in Sri Navadvipa Dhama.

It is stated in Sri Navadvipa Dhama Mahatmya that after the Lord killed the demon Baru Rakta that because of His mercy He came here to stay with the “Sabaras” (a tribe of people who were not qualified to live within the varnasarama system)
How To Get There This temple is about four kilometres from the main ISKCON temple. It is about a twenty minute rickshaw ride away. It could be a good idea to arrange to have the rickshaw driver take you both there and back, as this temple is down a side road in the middle of no where.

Sasthi Tirtha
When the demigods heard that Caitanya Mahaprabhu would descend at Nadia, Visvakarma came and dug out 60 wide ponds. The last of these ponds was at Chand Kazi’s village. One of these ponds was near Sridhara’s banana patch.

Simantini Devi Temple
There is a deity of Parvati in this temple who is named after the pastime that Lord Caitanya performed with her in Simantadvipa.

How To Get There This temple is about 7 km northeast of the ISKCON temple. It can be reached by rickshaw or taxi.

Mayamari
This is where Lord Balarama killed the Mayasura demon. This place is said to be non-different from the forest of Talavana in Braja, where Lord Balarama killed the ass demon Dhenukasura. During the battle of Kuruksetra, Lord Balarama decided to go on pilgrimage, because He was intimately connected to members of both sides of the battle. During this time He came to Navadvipa Dham. At this time some brahmanas requested Him to kill the demon named Mayasura. After a great battle Balarama killed this demon.

How To Get There This place is close to Sridhara’s garden.

Rama Tirtha (Rukunpur)
While Lord Balarama was touring the holy places He came to this place to bathe in the Ganges. At that time the Kol demon lived here and he was keeping the local people in the area under his control by his mystic powers. The local people asked Lord Balarama to kill this demon. When Balarama went to fight the Kol demon, the Kol demon came before him and surrounded Balarama with many thousands of elephants and chariots on all four sides. Lord Balarama started to smash Kolasura’s army. After He destroyed his army, Balarama caught hold of Kolasura and beat him to death.

It is said that anyone who bathes here on the full moon day in the month of Kartika will get 100 times the benefit of bathing in Haridwar .
Belpukur

There is a Krishna Deity called Madana Gopal here which was worshiped by Nilambara Cakravarti Thakur, the father of Sacidevi. This Deity is said to have been established by Nilambara Cakravarti. Nilambara Cakravarti is said to have moved from Sri Hatta to this village some time between 1475 and 1490. He came here with his wife and his daughter Sacidevi. This village used to be right next to the Ganges, but is now about 6 km away.

How To Get There This place is about 9 km northeast of Mayapur. It is also known as Belpukhuria or Bilvapuskarini. This place can be reached by taxi or rickshaw.

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