IN SEARCH OF THE BIRTHPLACE OF SRI CHAITANYA: PART II.
An Archaeological-Geomorphological Study on Nabadwip Vs. Mayapur
Balai Chandra DAS1
1 Department of Geography, Barasat Government College, Barasat-700124, India,
e-mail: balaichandra.das@bgc.ac.in.
ABSTRACT. – In Search of the Birthplace of Sri Chaitanya: Part II. An Archaeological-Geomorphological Study on Nabadwip vs. Mayapur. Bhagirathi, the most sacred river in Bengal is a distributary of the Ganges and runs North to South in a tortuous course. Nabadwip is situated on the right bank, while Mayapur is on the left bank, directly opposite to each other along the present course of the river. Sri Chaitanya was a 15th-century Indian saint, philosopher, social reformer, and propounder of equality and humanity. He was born in Nabadwip in 1486 AD. But the debate on his birthplace and the mystery of his disappearance is unsolved. During the last decade of the 19th century, a discussion arose about whether his birthplace was Nabadwip or Mayapur. The present paper is directed towards finding the solution to this issue. For this purpose, Bhaktiratnākara, the literature in which the hint of the debate was seeded, is analysed under the spectacles of history, geography, fluvial geomorphology and modern techniques of GIS software. Bhaktiratnākara mentioned that ‘Mayapur’ in Nabadwip is the birthplace of Sri Chaitanya. In addition to examining Bhaktiratnākara, contemporary literature has also been reviewed to trace the evolution of this debate. It is apparent from the study that Nabadwip town has its century-old glorious heritage. Sri Chaitanya was bornw in Nabadwip. What ‘Mayapur’ in Nabadwip is meant for opens an avenue for further research. Searching for the exact site of the birth of Sri Chaitanya demands an advanced interdisciplinary study of sedimentology, botany, archaeology, and paleo-fluvial study equipped with the latest dating tools and other technologies.
Keywords: Bhaktiratnākara, Vaishnavism, ISKCON, Bhagirathi River, Jalangi River, Gaurāṅga