Kapilas Tirtha
Kapilasa Tirtha is considered in some sthala-puranas to be one of the five most sacred places in Orissa. It is about a three hour drive north of Bhubaneswar. There Lord Kapiladev performed bhajan, Srila Sridhar Swami wrote his famous commentary on the Bhagavatam (his samadhi is also there) and Maharaja Prataprarudra rediscovered the ancient deities of Lord Vishnu and Chandrasekhar Mahadeva. It is on top of the largest mountain in the region, within a heavily jungled area. There are elephants, cobras, tigers and many other wild animals in the area. A number of ancient caves can be found in which many sadhus reside, some of whom are said to have be meditating there for hundreds of years. Although there was a bit of a heavy crowd when we arrived (we went on Monday, always the busy day of the week at Shiva temples) the atmosphere was very serene. We intend to print something about the place in our next magazine.
Sesadeva standing on the steps going to the Vishnu temple on top of the hill. There is a natural spring there that comes from the right foot of this deity. It goes down the hill where it comes onto the head of the Shiva deity of Chandrasekhar Mahadeva. There are over 1,300 steps to go from the bottom of the hill to the top.
The ancient deity of Lord Vishnu resides on top of the hill. This temple was said to have been established by Maharaja Prataprarudra in the place where he found the deity.
This shrine is the full samadhi of Srila Sridhar Swami. His famous commentary on the Bhagavatam was greatly appreciated by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and was said to have been written here at Kapilas.
The footprints of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The local tradition describes that Mahaprabhu visited here just before he went through the Jarikhanda forest on his way to Vrindavan.
Temple of Jagannath, Baladeva, Subhadra and Sri Sri Sita Rama. This mandir is located a few hundred yards below the Chandrasekhar temple. The sadhu at this temple was kind enough to provide wonderful prasadam (very tasty, cooked over local firewood) for our group of 10 devotees.
Entrance to the ancient Chandrasekhar temple complex
Sesadeva standing on the steps going to the Vishnu temple on top of the hill. There is a natural spring there that comes from the right foot of this deity. It goes down the hill where it comes onto the head of the Shiva deity of Chandrasekhar Mahadeva. There are over 1,300 steps to go from the bottom of the hill to the top.
The ancient deity of Lord Vishnu resides on top of the hill. This temple was said to have been established by Maharaja Prataprarudra in the place where he found the deity.
This shrine is the full samadhi of Srila Sridhar Swami. His famous commentary on the Bhagavatam was greatly appreciated by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and was said to have been written here at Kapilas.
The footprints of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The local tradition describes that Mahaprabhu visited here just before he went through the Jarikhanda forest on his way to Vrindavan.
Temple of Jagannath, Baladeva, Subhadra and Sri Sri Sita Rama. This mandir is located a few hundred yards below the Chandrasekhar temple. The sadhu at this temple was kind enough to provide wonderful prasadam (very tasty, cooked over local firewood) for our group of 10 devotees.
Sadhu at the Jagannath temple. He is almost 90 years old and
has been staying and doing his bhajan at Kapilas since 1940.
has been staying and doing his bhajan at Kapilas since 1940.
posted by Gopaljiu Publications | 6:34 PM
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