Naimisaranya Dharma Yatra
The Hub of the Universe
Naimisaranya, also known as ‘Nimsar’, is the aranya svarupa or forest manifestation of Lord Visnu, and is therefore a most sacred tirtha. 'Naimishe' also refers to Visnu's name, Animish, and Naimish-kshetra refers to the Abode of Lord Visnu. Naimisaranya existed at the onset of the universe, and in Satya-yuga, it was the first ever pilgrimage site manifested on the Earth planet. Suta Gosvami recited Srimad-Bhagavatam to 88,000 sages assembled here. At the juncture of Dvapara-yuga and present Kali-yuga, eighty thousand sages, headed by Saunaka Rsi wanted to perform a sacrifice to hold off the effect of the oncoming evil age. They approached Brahma and pleaded where they could perform a sacrifice that would counteract the influence of Kali and have the greatest effect.
Brahma told them, “I will send a disc. Follow it and perform your sacrifice where it hits the earth.” The disc (cakra) that Brahma sent went spinning down, sped toward the Garbhodaka Ocean and passing through the six planetary systems, it finally struck the earth at Cakra Tirtha, here at Naimisaranya. On seeing that the disc was approaching earth at a tremendous speed, the sages became worried and thought that it would strike the water and the splash would drown the earth. So, they prayed to goddess Durga, the controller of the material energy. She stopped the disc from going any farther.
This pastime explains why the lake at Cakra Tirtha is bottomless. In the 19th century, to discredit this claim and prove that this is a mythology, the British government sent a chain down into the lake to find the bottom. After reaching one and a half miles, they gave up.
In Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 1 chapter 1 verse 4, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada explains,
naimise ’nimisa-ksetre arsayah saunakadayah
satram svargāya lokaya sahasra-samam asata
naimise — in the forest known as Naimisaranya; animisa-ksetre — the spot which is especially a favorite of Visnu (who does not close His eyelids); arsayah — sages; aaunaka-adayah — headed by the sage Saunaka; satram — sacrifice; svargaya — the Lord who is glorified in heaven; lokaya — and for the devotees who are always in touch with the Lord; sahasra — one thousand; samam — years; asata — performed.
"In a holy place in the forest of Naimisaranya, great sages headed by the sage Saunaka assembled to perform a great thousand-year sacrifice for the satisfaction of the Lord and His devotees."
In the Vayaviya Tantra it is said that Brahma, the engineer of this particular universe, contemplated a great wheel which could enclose the universe. The hub of this great circle was fixed at a particular place known as Naimisaranya. Similarly, there is another reference to the forest of Naimisaranya in the Varaha Purana, where it is stated that by performance of sacrifice at this place, the strength of demoniac people is curtailed. Thus, brahmanas prefer Naimisaranya for such sacrificial performances. [Purport]
Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 1 chapter 1 describes that Suta Gosvami recited Srimad-Bhagavatam to the assembly of great sages at Naimisaranya. This place is marked by a spot called Suta Gadi. Suta Gadi Temple is on a small, beautiful hillock at a short walk from Chakra Tirtha. Sri Sri Radha Krishna and Lord Balarama are the presiding deities at the main altar. Srila Suta Goswami’s deity is on the left side of the main deities.
Chakra Tirtha is situated at the centre of Naimisaranya. This is the exact spot where the wheel sent by Brahma landed on the earth. At Chakra Tirtha there is a huge wheel surrounding the bottomless lake. Many devotees take a holy dip and perform the circumambulation (parikrama) by encircling outside the huge wheel. Around the lake there are important ancient temples dedicated to Lord Rama, Lord Badrinath and Lord Siva. Near the main entrance of Chakra Tirtha, there is a painting of sages headed by Sanuaka Rsi praying to Lord Brahma. The atmosphere at Chakra Tirtha is devotional and captivating. On festival days, a huge number of pilgrims visit this place.
Naimisaranya is situated on the banks of the River Gomati in the Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh. It is an easy 2-hour drive from Lucknow, the state capital. This district is named after Sita as she stayed with Lord Rama at this place during a pilgrimage. Afterwards, King Vikramaditya established this city in the memory of Sita and gave this place the name, Sitapur.
Lord Ramacandra performed the Tenth Aswamedha yajna at Naimisaranya after returning from exile, as mentioned in the Ramayana. This place is marked by the ancient Sri Rama Lakshmana Sita Temple (also known as Siddheshwar Mahadev Mandir). The temple has beautiful deities of Sri Sri Sita Rama Lakshmana.
Vyasa Gadi is one of the most important sacred spots in Naimisaranya. Here Srila Vyasadeva bifurcated the Vedas into 6 Sastras, 18 Puranas. Here at Vyasa Gadi (also known as Vyasa Vatika or Vyasadhama), Veda Vyasa lectured on the Bhagavata Purana (Srimad-Bhagavatam) to his own son, Srila Sukadeva Goswami. At the centre of the main altar at Vyasa Gadi Temple there is the deity of Srila Vyasadeva. On his right side there is a deity of Srila Sukadeva Goswami and on left altar is Vyasadeva’s father, Parasara Muni. Outside the Vyasa Gadi temple there is an ancient 5099-year-old banyan tree.
Manu-Satrupa Tapsthala is located directly opposite to Vyasa Gadi. At this place, Svayambhuva Manu and his wife Satarupa performed rigorous austerities for thousands of years. Naimisaranya at that time was dense forest, and was a famous place for gaining siddhi, or concrete achievement in spiritual life. Inside the temple there are deities of Sri Sri Sita Rama. On Their side are Svayambhuva Manu and Satarupa. Outside the main altar, there are deities of Svayambhuva Manu and Satarupa performing austerities. Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 4 chapter 1 describes Svayambhuva Manu begot three daughters in his wife, Satarupa, and their names were Akuti, Devahuti and Prasuti. Priyavrata and Uttanapada were their sons. Devahuti got married to Kardama Muni and their son was Lord Kapila.
Dadhici Kunda and Dadhici Muni’s residence is at Misrikh, 10 km from Naimisaranya. Here the great sage Dadhici gave up his body to Indra so that he could kill Vrstrasura, as described in Canto 6 of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Inside Dadhici’s residence there is the exact spot where he sacrificed his bones. There are also shrines dedicated to his father and mother. There is also a beautiful garden which has a rare Parijata tree. After Indra obtained the body of Dadhici, a thunderbolt was prepared from Dadhici’s bones, and a fight took place between Vrstrasura and the demigods at the end of Satya-yuga and the beginning of Treta-yuga. Sita Kunda (also known as Janaki Kunda) is a short distance from Dadhici Kunda. At this place, Sita devi took bath.
In another pastime about Naimisaranya, the Ramayana relates that Ravana once captured Rama and Lakshmana and kept Them in Patalaloka, at the bottom of the universe. But Their servant Hanuman rescued Them. He took Them on his shoulders, sped up through the lower planetary systems, and came back up to the earth at Naimisaranya. So, in Naimisaranya, at a place called Hanuman Garhi, there is a big 18 feet tall self-manifested Hanuman deity standing with Lord Rama on one shoulder and Lakshmana on the other. When devotees come to get darshan, they offer laddus (round sweets) to Hanuman Ji. Hanuman Garhi at Naimisaranya is one of the most beautiful places in the Tirtha.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 10 chapter 79 describes Lord Balarama’s visit to Naimisaranya and the liberation of the demon Balvala. “At the sacrificial arena of the sages at Naimisaranya forest, a harsh wind began to blow on the new-moon day, spreading the obnoxious smell of pus and obscuring everything with dust. The demon Balvala then appeared there with a trident in his hand, his massive body pitch black and his face very frightening. Lord Baladeva caught the demon with His plow and then struck him a ferocious blow on the head with His club, killing him. The sages chanted Lord Baladeva’s glories and presented Him with lavish gifts.”
Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 10.79.30 describes that sometime later, Lord Balarama again went to Naimisaranya: “Lord Balarama returned to Naimisaranya, where the sages joyfully engaged Him, the embodiment of all sacrifice, in performing various kinds of Vedic sacrifice. Lord Balarama was now retired from warfare.”
Pandavas visited Naimisaranya during their exile. Their residence is close to Hanuman Garhi temple. Here we can have the darshans of Lord Sri Krishna, Queen Kunti and the five Pandavas – Yudhisthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva.
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura visited Naimisaranya. This math was established by Srila Bhakti Siddhantha Saraswati Goswami Thakur on 1925. Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Radha Vinod Vilas Jiu are the presiding deities at the Temple. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta generally opened temples in cities where the people are, but he also opened several temples in places of spiritual importance, even though not very populated. There is a following account in ‘A Ray of Visnu’: “Srila Sarasvati Thakura also went to Badarinarayana, the site of the first Srimad-Bhagavatam recitation; to Sukara-tala, the site of the second recitation of the Bhagavatam; and to Naimisaranya, the site of the Bhagavatam’s third recitation, and he preached the glories of these places.”
The Holy Dhama of Naimisharanya encompasses a significant area of land, covering a radius of about 130 kilometres. Lord Nityananda, Sripad Ramanujacarya, Sankaracarya and many great saintly personalities have visited Naimisaranya Dhama. The followers of Sripad Ramanujacarya sampradaya count Naimisaranya amongst 108 Divya Desam Ksetras.
This glorious forest of Naimisaranya embodies for us the glories of Srimad-Bhagavatam. The name 'Naimisaranya' is related to the term 'naimi', referring to the chakra released by Brahma that split the earth open. It is also associated with the sage Gourmukh, who incinerated an asura to ashes here. Varaha Purana states that Lord Visnu once destroyed an entire army of asuras in one second at Naimisaranya, with His Chakra. 'Nimish' means 'an instant', and refers to the place in Naimisaranya forest where this pastime took place.
Naimisaranya is an easy 2-hour drive from Lucknow. ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) has a temple in Lucknow. Spread in a wonderful campus in the Golf Link area of Lucknow amid beautiful gardens, this is the home of gorgeous and merciful Sri Sri Radha Raman Bihari. Temple also has a Gaushala, Govindas Food Court, and a wedding banquet venue.
At the present, most of the temples and holy shrines in Naimisaranya are being well developed and maintained. Signage posts to visit these holy places are marked clearly. Indeed, it is worth visiting the important ancient Sri Naimisaranya Dhama. Sri Ayodhya Dhama is close by; only a 2-hour drive from Lucknow.
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