500 years ago, while walking from Navadvipa to Puri, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu spent the night in Bhadrak on the banks of the sacred Salandi river. He stayed at an ancient temple of Sri Sri Radha Madana Mohana (located in Santhiya village). Before departing for Puri, He blessed the temple pujari by giving him His personal blanket. This blanket has been worshipped for the last 500 years by the descendants of the original pujari.
The blanket is kept hidden in the temple throughout the year, but on one day each year (the anniversary of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s visit to Bhadrak) the blanket is displayed to the public and a large festival is held. This year we were able to take a photograph of this sacred relic, so now everyone can have darshan of Lord Caitanya’s personal blanket.
The blanket is brownish-red in color, and it is covered in sandalwood paste from hundreds of years of worship. The blanket is filled with white cotton, which is visible through some holes in the blankets cover.
If anyone would like to have direct darshan of this blanket, they should plan to visit Bhadrak just after the Ratha Yatra festival in Puri. Bhadrak was also the home of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur, a great saint in the line of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, so you can visit the school where he taught and served as headmaster for several years. Devotees can also take the opportunity to see the sacred wooden shoes of Sri Madhavendra Puri (Sri Caitanya’s param-guru) located at Remuna, around 45 km from Bhadrak. Sri Madhavendra Puri’s samadhi is located there, as well as the samadhi of Sri Rasikananda.
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