Pilgrimage to Tiwaripur

Tiwaripur, India – April 22, 2013 (VNN)  by Swami BV Damodara

Our most worshipful Srila Gurudeva Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja appeared in the small village of Tiwaripur, situated in Bihar, India. Our Srila Gurudeva twice asked Sripad BV Madhusudana Maharaja to go there and speak Bhagavat Katha. We were very fortunate to be able to go this year. When Sripad Madhusudana Maharaja went there he told to villagers:

“It is now a great Holy Tirtha. Tiwaripur is like Goloka Vrindavana”.

Srila Gurudeva‘s youngest brother, Sitanatha Prabhu had repeatedly called Sripad Madhusudana Maharaja and asked him to come. This time before Gaura Purnima he called again and we all agreed to come. Our BV Madhusudana Maharaja, along with Sripad BV Mangala Maharaja, BV Damodara Maharaja, BV Sadhu Maharaja and about 30 other Western devotees were invited to Tiwaripura for a 7 day recital of the Bhagavatam there.

It is an entire villiage of Brahmanas. It is very serene and peaceful. We visited the room where our worshipful Gurudeva made His appearance in 1921. Our Gurudeva would go daily to the Ganges for bath. It is a 4 kilometre walk, but we were told he would run there every morning, before running to school in Buxar town, another 8 kilometers away. The villages were very enthusiastic, and every night 300 to 400 people would attend, and listen with rapt attention. Our Sripad BV Madhusudana Maharaja appeared near Gaya, not so far away, so the villagers were very happy to hear his katha.

At the end of the saptaha, many people brought their sons forward to talk Brahmin thread from the hands of Sripad Madhusudana Maharaja, and also around 80 people came forward for hari-nama initiation. Every day the devotees would go for nagar-sankirtana to the surrounding villages and invite them for the katha.

The whole village invited us back for next year. It was a wonderful experience, as the devotees were immersed in remembrance of our Gurudeva, and in nectarine Bhagavat-katha.