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| Madhupur Sattra,West Bengal |
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| Madhupur Than in Kochbehar, West Bengal |
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| Cooch Behar Railway Station, West Bengal. |
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| Main Gate to Madhupur Sattra |
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| Madhupur Dham in Kochbehar, West Bengal |
Madhupur Than,
Kochbehar, West Bengal. It is also known as Madhupur Sattra nowadays. Srimanta
Sankaradeva, the founder of Eka Sarana Nama Dharma predicted in 1550 during his
second pilgrimage that a holy institution would come up here. Madhupur Than at
the present location came into being in 1594 at the initiative of Madhavadeva.
Beside
the Kirtanghar, there is a 105 feet tall Math in the Than. It was constructed
in 1964 with a grant from the Government of Assam. Holy relics of
Srimanta Sankaradeva and Madhavadeva are preserved in this Math. This has made
the Than more special. The devotees perform prayers in the hall of the Math in
front of these relics. The seat of Srimanta Sankaradeva is kept at the eastern
side in the Math. So the altar is on the western side there unlike in the
Kirtanghar.
Many relics of
Srimanta Sankaradeva like his rosary, footwear, jar, remains of yarn used in
Vrindavani cloth, manuscripts etc are preserved in the Than. These are shown to
public on two occasions in the year. These are kept on display for several days
at a stretch from the day of Raas Purnima.
There
is a centuries old honey comb in the Than. Srimanta Sankaradeva had predicted
about the setting up of an institution here after he had relished honey at this
very site during pilgrimage.
The
palm tree in the campus is several centuries old.
People
should visit it frequently to boost the confidence of the Sattradhikar and
devotees of the Than. Madhupur is only 7 km from Kochbehar town.
Madhupur Than is a centre of Eka Sarana Nama Dharma with the concept of single worshipable entity, lord Krishna.INSET# We don't have a strong world organization to promote Gurujona and we have to think about promoting the whole Indian Culture through Gurujona, as Gurujona is a representative of Indian culture and thinking.
