GOPINATH TEMPLE MAHOTSAVA
Gopinath Temple Mahotsava is held at Krishnanagar near Hooghly in the month Chaitra (March – April) every year. A large fair is also held for three days on this occasion.
Krishnanagar is a place of Vaishnava pilgrimage and traditional centre of Sanskrit learning about 1.6 kms. north of Khanakul.
According to available information, the history of the places dates back at least up to the early years of the 16th century when Kanad Tarkabagis, born some time between 1460 – 70 and educated under the reputed scholars Basudeva Sarvabhauma and Janakinath Chauramani of Nabadwip., came to live here. An eminent scholar in Nyaaya, he wrote a number of books on the subject, the most important being a commentary on the Tatvachintamani, a part of which known as the Anumanakhanda has been discovered. His other known works are Bhasharanta, Tarkabadarthamanjari and a commentary on Abayabaprakarana. In the middle of the 17th century, a renowned scholar of Smriti, Narayan Thakur (Bandyopadhyay) who was originally a native of Bali (near Howrah) and educated in Varanasi settled here and evolved an independent version of Hindu low, popularly known as the opinion of the Khanakul – Krishnanagar school, which has guided the socio – religious life of the Hindus of a large part of South – Western Bengal for the last three centuries. His followers founded the largest Vidya Samaj on the west of the Bhagirathi which, in course of time, embraced some 300 villages in the present subdivisions of the Arambagh and Ghatal (Midnapur area). Of his works Dhaturatnakara (1664), Smritisara (1680), siddhikarika and Savachananirvachana Smritisarvasva deserve special mention. The descendants of Kanad Narayan Thakur kept up the tradition of the local Vidya Samaj and students of Nyaya and Smriti came to the many tols established by them from various parts of the country. The Maratha raids in the middle of the 18th century unsettled the intellectual life of the place. Pandit Mahas Chandra Nyayaratna, Principal of the Sanskrit College, Kolkata, who was deputed by govt. in 1891 to inspect the tols of Bengal, reported: “Khanakul – Krishnanagar, long noted as one of the most eminent seats of learning in Bengal, has but four tols at present, none of them in flourishing condition. Not do its present Pandits enjoy the reputation that their predecessors did”. The last local tol was closed down recently.
Krishnanagar came to be recognized as a place of Vaishnava pilgrimage and one of the Dvadasa Patsowing to its being the place of residence of Abhiram Goswami, a close associate of Sri Chaitanya ranked among the twelve Gopals in the Gouraganaddesadipika of Kabi Karnapura. Having lost his favourite image of Srihkanta, Abhiram, so goes the legend wandered from place to place and came to Krishnanagar where according to a divine massage heard in a dream he discovered the image of Gopinath nad installed it in a temple. He introduced a number of festivals in honour of the deity which are observed to this day.
The local Raychaudhuri family was founded early in the 17th century by one Jadavendu Raychaudhuri who was a high official under the Sultans of Bengal. Legend has it that following divine instruction he removed a piece of stone from the place gate of the Sultan to make an image of Radhaballava to be installed in a temple in the village. The act cost him his life but his head, severed under the orders of the Sultan, exclaimed in despair that he could not complete the installation of the deity. The news of this miraculous event was carried to the Sultan, who apprehending celestial displeasure, appointed Jadavendu’s son to the post held by his father and made liberal grants for the maintenance of the temple. Bansidhar, the grandson of Jadavendu, brought Kulin Brahmins, scholars, weavers and others from different parts of the country and settled them at Krishnanagar. Descendants of Bansidhar were influential zamindars of the place.
The temple of Gopinath, a large ekaratna structure with a detached assembly hall in front, is the most important shrine in the village. It was built in 1812 when the earlier abode the god, a navaratna edifice built in 1774 and standing close by, had to be abandoned. Within the sanctum are the image of the Gopinath, Balarama and Abhiram Goswami which are regularly worshipped. The large ekaratna temple of Radhaballava was built by jadavendu in the first half of the 17th century and carries on its walls terracotta plaques containing foliage motifs.
Vaishnava festivals held in honour of Gopinath, viz. the Rasotsava held in the month of Kartik (October – November) and the Mahotsava observed on the seventh day of the black half of the month of Chaitra (March – April), are the principal religious functions of the village. The former lasts for three days and is attended by a large fair while the latter continues for three days when numerous Vaishnavas visit the place.
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