Ekachakra is a small village, located 20 km away from the town of

Rampurhat Rampurhat is a city and a municipality in Birbhum district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Rampurhat subdivision. According to Census 2011 Rampurhat is the third most populous city in Birbhum district and 8 ...

in the

Birbhum District Birbhum district () is an administrative unit in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the northernmost district of Burdwan division—one of the five administrative divisions of West Bengal. The district headquarters is in Suri. Other imp ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the four ...

. Within Hindu tradition, the five

Pandavas The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, IAST: Pāṇḍava) refers to the five legendary brothers— Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva—who are the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. They are acknowl ...

from the epic,

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the '' Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the K ...

are described as staying in Ekachakra during their years in exile.O’Malley, L.S.S., ICS, ''Birbhum'', Bengal District Gazetteers, p. 128, first published 1910, 1996 reprint, Government of West Bengal It is also famous as the birthplace of Nityananda Rama (b 1474 CE), a principal religious figure in the

Gaudiya Vaishnava Gaudiya Vaishnavism (), also known as Chaitanya Vaishnavism, is a Vaishnava Hindu religious movement inspired by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1534) in India. "Gaudiya" refers to the Gaura or Gauḍa region of Bengal, with Vaishnavism mea ...

tradition. The village extends north and south for an area of about eight miles. Other villages, namely Viracandra-pura and Virabhadra-pura, are situated within the area of the village of Ekacakra. In honor of Virachandra Goswami (the son of Nityananda), these places are renowned as Viracandra-pura and Virabhadra-pura.

Toponym

The origin of the name Ekachakra is associated with the legend of the

. In the battle of Kurukshetra

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is on ...

broke his vow of not actively participating in the war as a warrior and rushed with his sudarshan

chakram Chakram ( sa, , script=latn; pa, , script=latn) is a throwing weapon from the Indian subcontinent. One of its major purposes is to protect the turban and the head from sword/melee attacks. It is circular with a sharpened outer edge and a diamet ...

to help his devotee

Arjuna Arjuna (Sanskrit: अर्जुन, ), also known as Partha and Dhananjaya, is a character in several ancient Hindu texts, and specifically one of the major characters of the Indian epic Mahabharata. In the epic, he is the third among Pand ...

, and slay

Bhishma Bhishma (Sanskrit: भीष्‍म, , ), also known as Pitamaha, Gangaputra, and Devavrata, played an integral role in Mahabharata. He was the supreme commander of the Kaurava forces during the Kurukshetra War mentioned in the Hindu epi ...

who had been fighting with Arjuna but not losing. When Bhishma satisfied him with many beautiful prayers, Krishna lost his anger and tossed aside the chakram. The chakram fell on this tract of land and therefore got the name ''Ekachakra''. ''Eka'' means one, and ''chakra'' means chakram. In the

, it is also believed to be the place where Demon Bakasura lived who was later slain by

Bhima In Hindu epic Mahabharata, Bhima ( sa, भीम, ) is the second among the five Pandavas. The '' Mahabharata'' relates many events that portray the might of Bhima. Bhima was born when Vayu, the wind god, granted a son to Kunti and Pandu. ...

. However, there are several places all over India which contest as ancient Ekachakra.

Geography

Location

Ekachakra is located at .

Garbhavasa

This is said to be the actual birthplace of

Nityananda Nityānanda (; born circa 1474), also called Nitai, was a primary religious figure within the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition of Bengal. Nitai was Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's friend and disciple. They are often mentioned together as ''Gaura-Nitai' ...

. In the Janmasthan

Mandir A Hindu temple, or ''mandir'' or ''koil'' in Indian languages, is a house, seat and body of divinity for Hindus. It is a structure designed to bring human beings and gods together through worship, sacrifice, and devotion.; Quote: "The Hind ...

there is a deity of Nitai (Nityananda) worshipped by a local

brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests ( purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers ( ...

family. Hadai Pandita Bhavan is the site of the original house of Nityananda's father. The small white temple next to Nitai Kund marks the exact spot where Nityananda was born. There are two

banyan A banyan, also spelled "banian", is a fig that develops accessory trunks from adventitious prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees with a strangler habit that begin life as a ...

trees by this temple that are said to have existed since the time of Nityananda. In the center of the main altar of the temple is a deity of Lord Nityananda. To his left, with his hands raised, is

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (; born Vishvambhar Mishra) was a 15th-century Indian saint who is considered to be the combined avatar of Radha and Krishna by his disciples and various scriptures. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's mode of worshipping Krish ...

. On Nityananda's right is Advaita Acharya. The side altar has deities of

Radha Radha ( sa, राधा, ), also called Radhika, is a Hindu goddess and the chief consort of the god Krishna. She is worshiped as the goddess of love, tenderness, compassion, and devotion. She is the avatar of goddess Lakshmi and is also d ...

-Radhakanta and Radha-Srikanta, a large dancing Gouranga in the center, and ten brass sakhis at the bottom. The temple was constructed by Prasannakumara Karapharma.

Mala Tala

There is an old Pippala tree here called 'Mala Tala'. Just before Nityananda departed the village in his youth, Hadai Pandita came here and chanted

japa ''Japa'' ( sa, जप) is the meditative repetition of a mantra or a divine name. It is a practice found in Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Buddhism, with parallels found in other religions. ''Japa'' may be performed while sitting in a ...

under this tree. Mala means " japa beads" and tala means "tree." When Nitai was about to depart Hadai Pandita left his japa beads here due to anxiety. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu came to Ekacakra many years after Nityananda left. It is said that at that time Chaitanya left his flower

garland A garland is a decorative braid, knot or wreath of flowers, leaves, or other material. Garlands can be worn on the head or around the neck, hung on an inanimate object, or laid in a place of cultural or religious importance. Etymology From the ...

on a branch of this tree. Mala also means "garland." Therefore, also for this reason this tree was called Mala Tala.

Hantugada Tirtha

(Also known as Jahnu Kund) It is said that Nitai brought all the

sacred waters Sacred waters are sacred natural sites characterized by tangible topographical land formations such as rivers, lakes, spring (hydrosphere), springs, Water reservoir, reservoirs, and oceans, as opposed to holy water which is water elevated with t ...

from all the holy places to this kunda to save the local residents from having to journey to the

Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

to take a sacred bath. It is named Hantugada because Nityananda Prabhu used to perform the Dadhi-cida festival of distributing chipped rice with yogurt

prasadam 200px, Prasad thaal offered to Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Ahmedabad">Swaminarayan temple in Ahmedabad Prasada (, Sanskrit: प्रसाद, ), Prasadam or Prasad is a religious offering in Hinduism. Most often ''Prasada'' is vegetarian food ...

here and He would take the prasada while kneeling down.

Pandava Tala

This place is a five-minute walk (400m) into the fields, southeast of Nityananda's birthplace. It is surrounded by a group of Keli-

kadamba tree ''Neolamarckia cadamba'', with English common names burflower-tree, laran, and Leichhardt pine, and called kadam or cadamba locally, is an evergreen, tropical tree native to South and Southeast Asia. The genus name honours French naturalist Jean- ...

s. The

are said to have lived here with their mother,

Kunti Kunti ( sa, कुन्ती, ), named at birth as Pritha ( sa, पृथा, ), is one of the prominent characters of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. She is best known as the mother of the Pandavas and Karna, the main protagonists of the epi ...

, when they were exiled to the forest.

Bankima Raya Mandira

The current deity within the Bankima Raya temple was found by Nityananda himself, within the Yamuna river of Ekachakra. The deity was then installed in a temple that is now submerged within Jahnu kunda. Nityananda is believed to have merged within this deity at the time of his disappearance. The present temple of Bankima Raya is also an old one. The deity of Jahnava Mata (Nityananda's wife) was placed beside him. In this temple there is also a small samadhi of Virachandra Goswami.

References

External links

Ekchakradham, Birth place of Nityananda Prabhu

Nityananda Janmasthan

{{Birbhum District Hindu temples in West Bengal Vaishnavism Sacred groves of India Villages in Birbhum district