Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura established Sri Caitanya Matha in 1918. He called the area of this compound Vrajapattana, which means the place where Vrindavana is manifested. This is where the house of Candrasekhara was located. His wife Malati, was the younger sister of Srimati Saci-devi. They had no children of their own. When Jagannatha Misra, the father of Lord Caitanya, left this world, Candrasekhara acted as the Lord’s father. He accepted Lord Caitanya as his son and took full responsibility for Saci-mata.
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu would perform kirtana at this place. He also performed dramas with Advaita Prabhu, Srivasa, and other devotees in the house of Candrasekhara. Nityananda played Paurnamasi, Srivasa Pandita played Narada Muni, Advaita Acarya acted as Sadasiva, Haridasa Thakura took the role of a guard fromVaikuntha, and Gadadhara Pandita played Lakshmi-devi.
Darsana times: 6.00-12.00 a.m. and4.00-8.00 p.m.
Directions:Going down Bhaktisiddhanta Road, it is half a kilometer from Srivasa Angana, or two kilometers from ISKCON. The first gate you approach enters from the side of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s samadhi. The second gate, a little further down the road, is the entrance for the main temple. To see everything without having to retrace your steps, it is best to enter at the first gate and have your rickshaw pick you up at the second gate.
Presiding deities: If you enter the main gate (the second gate when coming from the ISKCON temple)you will see the main temple dedicated to Sri Sri Gandharvika-Giridhari approximately 25 meters(75 feet) ahead. On the altar to the right of Gandharvika-Giridhari are two deities of Lord Caitanya with Their right arms raised. When you walk around the deity chamber you will see four altars, one for each of the Vaishnava acaryas: Sri Madhvacarya, Sri Vishnu Swami, Sri Nimbarkacarya and Sri Ramanujacarya.
There is a Govardhana Hill in the compound. Next to it is Radha-kunda. This pond is non-different from Radha-kunda in Vrindavana.
Next to the Gandharvika-Giridhari temple is Srila Gaurakishora dasa Babaji’s samadhi temple.
He is the spiritual master of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura and left this world on November 19, 1915 in Koladvipa. Previously his samadhi was on the western bank of the Ganga in Kuliyagrama at the place called Mutanchada in the present city of Navadvipa. In 1932, sixteen years after he attained samadhi, the Ganga rose to within a few feet of his samadhi. At this time Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura had his disciples move the samadhi by boat to this place. Inside the campus of Sri Caitanya Matha is the residence of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, a two-storey building where you can see different items used by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada. If you enter Sri Caitanya Matha from the first gate (coming from Yogapitha), you will see the samadhi of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. It stands on the right side of the path and is facing Syama-kunda.
