Navadvipa (Gaura Mandala) Area

Gaura Mandala is one hundred sixty-eight miles in circumference, with the Ganges running through the center. Gaura Mandala takes the form of a hundred-petaled lotus with Navadvipa in the center. Navadvipa is known as Audarya Dhama. The word audarya means magnanimity, generosity, and overflowing grace. It refers to the state when all the Lord qualities manifests in the devotees.
Navadvipa consists of nine (nava) islands (dvipa), and the nine islands resemble an eight-petaled lotus flower. The circumference of the center of the flower, Antardvipa (Mayapur), is ten miles, and the circumference of the eight flower petals of Navadvipa is thirty miles. According to the scriptures, the diameter of Gaura Mandala is 56 miles and the radius is 32 miles. The center point, situated within Navadvipa, is Yoga Pitha, the sacred place where Lord Caitanya appeared. The whole of Navadvipa is a spiritual manifestation, for at this holy place Sri Gauranga performed His transcendental activities.

The Lord appeared in Navadvipa Dhama in all four yugas. In Satya-yuga He appeared as Lord Narasimha. In Treta-yuga Lord Rama came to Navadvipa. In Dwapara-yuga, when King Samudra Sena fought with Bhima, Krishna came to help him. In Kali-yuga, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu performed his pastimes in Navadvipa Dhama. According to Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur the leading acaryas of the four Vaishnava sampradayas all came to Navadvipa Dhama. They are Ramanujacarya (Sri sampradaya), Nimbarkacarya (Kumara sampradaya), Madhvacarya (Brahma sampradaya), and Vishnusvami (Rudra sampradaya).

A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada said that Vrindavana was his home and Mayapur (Navadvipa Dhama) was where he worshiped Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Holy Places in Navadvipa Dhama
The holy rivers such as the Ganges and Yamuna, as well as the seven holy cities headed by Prayaga are within Navadvipa Dhama. They are Mathura, Ayodhya, Maya (Haridwar), Kasi (Varanasi) Kanci, Avanti (Ujjain) and Dwarka. Gaura Mandala is directly in the spiritual world.
The 12 transcendental forests of Braja are all found in Navadvipa Dham in concealed forms. Antardvipa is Gokula-Mahavana. The forest of Madhuvana and Mathura city are north of Prithu Kunda. Godrumadvipa is Nandagram. In Koladvipa is Bahulavana. In Koladvipa is a hill called Kuliya and this hill is Govardhana Hill. Jahnudvipa is Bhadravana. Modadrumadvipa is Bhandiravana. Mahatpur in Modadrumadvipa is Kamyavana. Mayamari in Simantadvipa is Talavana and Rudradvipa is Baelvana. Khadiravana is at Champahatti. Radha Kunda is in Ritudvipa.

The main Ganges always flows in the middle of Navadvipa. Near the Ganges flows the Yamuna. East of the Yamuna are the Tamraparni, the Kritamala and the Brahmaputra. The Sarayu, Gomati, Narmada, Godavari, Sindhu and Kaveri also flow through Navadvipa Dham. All these rivers intersect to form the nine islands of Navadvipa. The island at the junction of the Ganges and the Yamuna is called Antardvipa. Within Antardvipa is Sri Dham Mayapur, where Lord Caitanya appeared. Sixteen holy rivers previously flowed through Navadvipa, but over time all but the Ganges and Saraswati have dried up. The 16 sacred rivers that used to flow through Mayapur are the Yamuna, Bhagavati, Alakananda, Kaveri, Saraswati, Tamrapni, Brahma-putra, Saraju, Ganges, Manasa Ganga, Kritamala Vidyadhari, Narmada, Gomati, Mandakini and the Godavari.

In Sri Navadvipa Dham Mahatmya it is said that in just one portion of Navadvipa all the sacred places, sages, munis, demigods, the Vedic scriptures and mantras reside. Whatever results a person can attain by performances of thousands of horse sacrifices, and various types of rituals can be attained ten million times just by remembering Navadvipa. What can be said about actually seeing Navadvipa?

In Sri Navadvipa Dham, the abode of Lord Caitanya, the Lord does not consider a devotee’s offenses.

Nine Islands of Navadvipa Dham
The area of Sri Navadvipa Dhama is divided into nine divisions, called islands. Within the central island of Antardvipa is Mayapur. This entire area is considered a holy place. Each one of these divisions represents one of the nine processes of devotional service. The nine divisions are: 1) Antardvipa, Sri Mayapur (surrendering everything); 2) Simantadvipa (hearing); 3) Godrumadvipa (chanting); 4) Madhyadvipa (remembering); 5) Koladvipa (serving the lotus feet); 6) Ritudvipa (worshipping); 7) Jahnudvipa (praying); 8) Modadrumadvipa (being a servant); and 9) Rudradvipa (being a friend). When you do Gaura Mandala Parikrama you visit each island in the order that is listed.

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