Sri Caitanya Maha-Prabhu’s South India Tour

Sri Caitanya Maha-Prabhu’s route of travel in South India .

After taking sanyasa, MahaPrabhu was staying in Puri . He then decided to go to South India on a preaching mission .He took Kala- Krsna-Das as His servant who would carry his clothes and water pot . His first destination was Alalnath (near Puri) where there is a Visnu Temple . From there Maha Prabhu went to Sri Kurma Kshetra in Andhra Pradesh (8 miles from Srikakulam railway Station ) . There He delivered a leper Brahmin called Vasudeva , who was immediately cured of his disease and got a very beautiful body, on being touched by Mahaprabhu . The Brahmin , however, despised his beautiful body saying “now pride will come to me because of my beautiful body and therefore my previous disease- afflicted body was better suited for my worship of Krsna “ .Mahaprabhu was amazed at his humility and gave him benediction that pride will never touch him .
From Kurma Kshetra Mahaprabhu proceeded to the place of Jeor Nrisimha Deva . In Caitanya Caritamrta we find
Nrisimha dekhiya tnare koila nati stuti
Siddha Bat gela jnaha Murti Sitapati
Siddha Bat is in Bhadrachala . Lord Sri RamChandra went thru this way in search of Sita after she was abducted by Ravana . Mahaprabhu then came to the bank of Godavari river where He met Ramanada Ray , Provincial Governor of the place representing king of Orissa . Ramananda Ray was a great Vaisnava ,with whom Mahaprabhu spent 3 days and nights discussing ‘ Sadhya-Sadhan Tatva ‘ establishing thereby the Ultimate Principle to be Radha-Krsna which is to be achieved thru un- alloyed devotion which should be free from contamination of Jnan (Knowledge) and Karma (Action ) . It does not however mean that Knowledge and Action are to be forsaken altogether, but that one must rise above the limitations of these two paths and take to pure devotional service for perfection . Maha Prabhu imagined Godavari river to be Yamuna and was immersed in ecstasy of Krsna’s Vrindavan Pastimes .Then He came to Vijaywada and to near-by Trimanga Nagar which was full of Buddhists . By arguments and references from scriptures , Mahaprabhu defeated their philosophy , which was all but atheism as Buddhists disregarded Vedas . These Buddhists then became Vaisnavas by taking initiation from Mahaprabhu . Although Lord Buddha was an incarnation of Krsna ,yet his religion is all but atheism ----this statement may sound like a dichotomy ,but it needs deep deliberation to understand this fact which can be discussed in detail else where .
Mahaprabhu then proceeded to Tripadi Trimalla . We find following description in Caitanya Caritamrta
MahaPrabhu Cali Aila Tripati Tri-Malle
Caturbhuj Murti dekhi Venkat Acale .
This is the temple of Lord Tiru Pati situated in the state of Andhra Pradesh , which is situated on a hill top 90 miles north of the city of Madras . The temple can now be approached thru a motorable road after crossing 7 hills . The temple is built in old Dravidian architecture and it is said that Togumal Chakravarty , King of Chola built this temple . This temple has a special significance in consideration of its art and architecture throughout India . The deity , Lord Venkateswar, has 4 hands ---2 hands behind carrying Conch Shell (Sankha ) and Disc (Chakra ) while one of the hands in front is in the style of giving benediction and the other hand is placed on the waist .These 2 hands are carrying a ring of serpent .
Under the hill of Lord Tirupati there is a place called Lower Tirupati where there are temples of Govind Raj ji and of Lord Ramchandra . Here Mahaprabhu worshipped Lord RamaChandra .
From there MahaPrabhu came to the temple of Pana Nrisimha .Since Lord Nri Simha Deva is served here with a syrup of Sugar He is called Pana- Nrisimha .

Maha Prabhu’s next destination was Kancipuram near Madras . In caitanya Caritamrta it is stated :
Shiva Kanci asi kaila Shiva Darashan
Prabhave Vaisnav koila sava Saibagan
In this place Mahaprabhu saw Lord Siva and converted all devotees to Vaisnavism , It is only natural , because Lord Siva is the greatest Vaisnava , as in scriptures : “Vaisnavanam yatha Shambhu”
In Visnu Kanci Mahaprabhu saw Lord Narayan and Laxmi Devi and danced in ecstasy before them . In Caitanya Caritamrta we find :
Visnu Kanci asi dekhilo Laxmi Narayan
Pranam kariya koila bahuta stavan .
Many people became Vaisnavas here by association of Maha Prabhu . Here Krsna is worshipped as Varadarajan .
Then Maha Prabhu proceeded to PakshiTirtham after offering obeisances to Lord Shiva in a place called Trikalhasti , which is 22 miles north east of Tirupati temple and situated on the southern bank of river Suvarna Mukhi .
In Pakshi Tirtham Maha Prabhu saw Lord Shiva in a temple atop a small hill 500 ft high .This hill is called Vedacalam and the deity is called Veda Giriswar . Two hawks daily come here at a fixed time around noon to take prasadam of The Lord and then go away . This phenomenon is going on from time immemorial .

MahaPrabhu then visited Shet Varaha Temple, which is a monolithic structure 1 mile south of Mahavalipuram .
MahaPrabhu then passed thru the city of Tanjore seeing on the way the lake called KumbhaKarna Kapal.He also saw some Shiva temples along the way .
Thereafter MahaPrabhu came to Sri Rangam and saw Lord Ranganathji after passing thru Trichinapally (Trichy). This temple has a golden dome and is believed to be bult by Bibhisana, brother of Ravana . This was the seat of Ramanujacharya ,one of the greatest Vaisnavas and an acharya of Sri-Sampradaya and the founder of Visista-Dvaitavad school of Philosophy . In Ranga Kshetra he saw a Brahmin not proficient in sanskrit yet reading Gita very sincerely . People used to laugh at him because of his ignorance and wrong pronunciation . Mahaprabhu asked him “ what makes you interested to read Gita ?”The Brahmin said ‘ I am ignorant and do not know the word meaning of what I read , but I can see beautiful Lord Krsna sitting on the chariot of Arjuna holding the reins of the horses and instructing Arjuna about what to do . MahaPrabhu told him , “ you have the authority to read Gita ,and you will soon understand its real purport. Reading Gita without proper feeling is useless”.
MahaPrabhu saw Go-Samaj Shiva in Tanjore on the bank of the river Kaveri .The deity of Lord Rama and Laxman which MahaPrabhu saw here is no longer there .
In Trichinapally MahaPrabhu stayed for 4 months in the rainy season doing Caturmasya in the house of a Brahmin called Venkat Bhatta . Venkat Bhatta was originally a devotee of Lord Shiva but became a Vaisnava by MahaPrabhu’s association . Later on Venkat Bhatta’s son Gopal Bhatta joined MahaPrabh’s movement and became one of the six goswamis of Vrindavana.
MahaPrabhu saw Go-Samaj Shiva in Tanjore on the bank of the river Kaveri .The deity of Lord Rama and Laxman which MahaPrabhu saw here is no longer there .
MahaPrabhu stayed in Rameswaram for 3 days and did congregational chanting (Naam Sankirtan) continuously for 3 days .MahaPrabhu also went to Darva Sayanam . In Chaitanya Caritamrta we find :

Durbarshane Raghunathe kaila Darashan
Mahendra Saile Parashuramer koila darashan
Durbarshan is same as Darbha Sayanam where Mahaprabhu saw the temple of Lord Rama and also visited hill Mahendra where temple of Parashurama is located . This Mahendra hill has mention in Ramayana and is situated near Tineveli , on the western side of which is Travancore .

After reaching Setubandha in Rameswar MahaPrabhu bathed in Dhanuscodi and saw the temple of Rameswaram , before taking some rest there .
Therefrom MahaPrabhu went to Madura and took invitation of a Brahmin named Ramdas who was a devotee of Lord Rama . The Brahman was very much aggrieved and used to fast thinking that a demon like Ravan had touched Sita devi who was Laxmi devi herself . MahaPrabhu explained to him that it was impossible for Ravana to touch Sita Devi and what he actually did he stole an illusory form of Sita or maya Sita . This is the opinion of all great scholars because spiritual body of Sita is neither to be seen nor to be touched by any mortal being .MahaPrabhu asked the Brahmin to keep faith on these words because learned persons do not believe their own senses but keep faith on whatever is mentioned in real scriptures .Brahmin thereafter broke his fast and gave up his desire to leave his body due to agony of his mind .
Then MahaPrabhu visited Kanyakumari and bathed in river Tamraparni. He was afflicted with emotion due to separation from Krsna and cried profusely sitting on the sea side .He then saw Nava Tirupati and Sitapati in Panaguri .
After bathing in the sea MahaPrabhu saw AdiKeshav temple and thereafter saw Padmanabha in Travancore lying on the bed of serpent called Ananta .He even bathed in the holy water of river Bhavani at Kotagiri at its source. MahaPrabhu saw a volume of Brahma Samhita, a treatise written by Brahma himself, describing Lord Krsna and His abode with pure love and devotion . This is considered to be the sum and substance of all vaisnav philosophy and so MahaPrabhu got the book copied by a copier and took the copy with Him .
He then visited “Udup-Krsna” in a place called Kandar . This is the birth place of famous Madhvacharya who is one of the founders of our Brahma Madhva Gaudiya Sampradaya .Actually followers of Madhvacharya are called Tattva-Vadis and Gaudiya Sampradaya which was created by the followers of MahaPrabhu is slightly different from them in the sense that in Gaudiya sampradaya Pure devotion(Suddha Bhakti) without the tinge of Jnan(knowledge) and Karma (Action) is held to be the highest goal of one’s life , whereas the followers of Madhvacharya considers Jnan(knowledge) and Karma (Action) to be important along with Bhakti even at the highest stage .MahaPrabhu then went to Pandharpur where his elder brother Biswaroop ( also known as Sankararanya after taking sanyas) left his body . There MahaPrabhu met Sri Ranga Puri who was a disciple of MahaPrabhu’s Gurudev Madhvendra Puri .Sri Ranga Puri knew Mahaprabhu’s brother and so they spent some time remembering about him .MahaPrabhu saw Vittal Dev (Krsna) there and became very ecstatic .There he met Tukaram whom he initiated and empowered to preach Krsna consciousness through out Maharashtra . Tukaram’s influence of preaching is still undiminished in these areas . He visited the temples of Somnath , Junagarh and Dwarka . Thereafter MahaPrabhu came to the bank of river Krsna-Venva or Bheema and met a group of Brahmins who were reading from a book called Krsna Karnamrta written by Bilwamangala Thakur .MahaPrabhu was very pleased hearing the narration of the book and got it copied and took that copy with him .Then he came to Mahismatipur on the northern bank of river Narmada after passing thru Dohad .He then walked thru the foot of the Vindhya hills and Dandakaranya forest and went thru Bastar to arrive at the northern bank of Mahanadi river of Orissa .After passing thru Sambalpur He crossed Mahanadi and then arrived at Puri after being thru Rasalkunda..
Whichever place He visited He distributed the holy name :
HARE KRSNA HARE KRSNA KRSNA KRSNA HARE HARE
HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE
And by the word of mouth this holy name spread like wild fire in towns and villages and all inhabitants of a village would immediately become Vaisnavas by His influence.

While travelling this long distance He used to always take shelter of Krsna by chanting
Krsna Keshava Krsna Keshava Krsna Keshava Pahi Mum
Rama Raghava Rama Raghava Rama Raghava Raksha Mum

Although He was The Supreme Lord Himself , nonetheless He worshipped The Lord just as a devotee just to show us how to practice devotional service in this age of Kali .