deva-pallim tato gatva
devan surya-mukhan prabhuh
sri-krishna-kirtananande
plavayam asa bhamini

“Oh, Bhamini! (After visiting Suvarna-vihara) the Lord went to Devapalli. There he drowned the demigods headed by Surya with the bliss of chanting the holy name of Sri Krishna.” (Navadvipa-dhama-mahatmy Pramana-khanda 4.38) 

In Navadvipa-bhava-taranga, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura describes Devapalli as follows: “Southeast of Suvarna-vihara there is Nrisimha Puri. When will I see the pure transcendental sweetness of this place, also called Devapalli? I will roll about on the ground in ecstatic love while visiting this residence of Lord Nrisimha. Sincerely begging for His grace without a trace of duplicity in my heart, I will attain Krishna-prema. Within my sinful heart, the six enemies headed by lust perpetually reside, as well as duplicity, the desire for fame, and sheer cunning. At the lotus feet of Lord Nrisimha, I hope that He will mercifully purify my heart and give me the desire to serve Lord Krishna. Weeping, I will beg at the lotus feet of Lord Nrisimha for the benediction of worshipping Radha and Krishna in Navadvipa, perfectly safe and free from all difficulties. When will this Lord Hari, whose terrible form strikes fear into fear itself, ever become pleased and show me His mercy?

Even though Lord Nrisimha is terrifying toward the sinful souls He offers great auspiciousness unto the devotees of Lord Krishna headed by Prahlada Maharaja. When will He be pleased to speak words of compassion unto me, a worthless fool, and thereby make me fearless? He will say, ‘Dear child! Sit down freely and live happily here in Sri Gauranga-dhama. May you nicely worship the Divine Couple and may you develop loving attachment for Their holy names. By the mercy of My devotees, all obstacles are cast far away. With a purified heart, just perform the worship of Radha and Krishna, for such worship overflows with sweet nectar.’ Saying this, will that Lord delightedly place His own divine lotus feet upon my head? Suddenly I will experience sublime love for the divine couple Radha-Krishna and undergo the ecstatic transformations called the sattvikavikaras. Falling on the ground, I will roll about by the door of Sri Nrisimha’s temple”. (Navadvipa-bhava-taranga)

There was a very nice pastime of Mahaprabhu by the Alakananda River, which, as mentioned previously, is presently not visible. Jagadananda Pandita has described this pastime very nicely in his book Prema-vivarta: “One day my Lord, in a playful mood, went to the dense forest on the bank of Alakananda. Myself and Gadadhara were both there with Mahaprabhu. The Lord playfully caught hold of a suka (parrot) from the bakula tree. Mahaprabhu said, ‘You are the son of Vyasadeva. Please chant Sri Radha- Krishna and increase our happiness.’ The suka, however, did not chant the holy name of Sri Radha-Krishna but instead chanted “Gaurahari”. Then Mahaprabhu threw him away pretending that He was angry with him because the bird was not chanting the holy name of Sri Radha-Krishna. Still the suka continued chanting “Gaura, Gaura” and danced with great love. Mahaprabhu said, ‘Oh, Suka! This is Vrindavana. Please chant the holy name of Sri Radha and Krishna and let everybody hear the holy name.’ The bird replied, ‘Vrindavana has transformed into Navadvipa. Sri Radha and Krishna have appeared as Sri Gaurahari. I am the suka who chants the holy name of Sri Gaurahari and stays in this forest. You are my Sri Radha-Krishna. This Gadadhara is Srimati Radharani. Gadai and Gauranga are the Lords of my life. Nothing else comes from my mouth.’ Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu said, ‘I am a worshiper of Sri Radha-Krishna. I feel sad to hear any other name.’ Saying this Mahaprabhu caught hold of Gadadhara’s hand and went back to Mayapur leaving behind the suka who said, “You chant whatever You like. I will do my bhajana here eternally, chanting the holy name of Gaurahari.”

kshetram hari-haram tirtva
kasim ca moksha-dayinim …

“Lord Sri Hari crossed Sri Hariharakshetra and Kasi-kshetra which gives liberation …”
(Navadvipa-dhama-mahatmy Pramana-khanda 4.39 ) 

Harihara-kshetra is situated in Godrumadvipa on the eastern bank of the Alakananda River. At present this river is not flowing but a portion of the river is still visible. In the temple of Harihara-kshetra there is a deity who is half Lord Siva and half Lord Vishnu. The western side of the Alakananda is considered non-different from Kasi (Varanasi), in fact this place is greater than Kasi and known as Maha- Varanasi. Here Lord Siva is dancing, chanting the holy name “Gaura Gaura”. He offers his associates devotion unto Lord Gauranga. Sannyasis get liberation after cultivating jnana for thousands of years in Kasi. The devotees here at Maha-Varanasi reject that offer of liberation and dance in ecstasy chanting the holy name of Gauranga. Lord Siva delivers anyone who dies here by chanting the name of Gauranga in his ear at the time of death. Living entities have no fear at this Maha-Varanasi-dhama.

Explaining the glories of this place Lord Nityananda started to dance in ecstasy, offering gaura-prema to all the living entities. At that time Kailasa-pati Lord Siva invisibly came there and offered his obeisances to Lord Nityananda bowing his head in front of Him. Here Lord Siva and his consort Gauri chant the holy name of Gauranga to fulfil their desires.

Darsana timings :From 10.00 a.m. -12.00 and 4.00-6.00 p.m

Directions: Return to the Amghat Railway Station and cross the railway lines. Go down the small dirt road on the side of the station where the Amghat sign is. Continue on this small road passing two small roads on the left side. After passing the second road on the left, you will make a sharp left turn. You will then see this place in the open area on the right of the road. It is on the bank of the Alakananda River.

Presiding deities: The main deity is Sri Harihara. He is half Lord Vishnu (black side) and half Lord Siva (white side). You will see Lord Vishnu’s eternal consort, Lakshmi-devi, on the left, and Lord Siva’s eternal consort, Parvatidevi, on the right. There is a deity of Burho Siva or Vriddha Siva (Old Siva) with mustache and beard. You can also see a deity of Gopala and the footprints of Lord Gadadhara. There is also a deity of Sitala-devi on the floor riding on the horse.

Amra-ghata is where Lord Caitanya performed the miracle of planting a mango (amra) seed, which immediately grew into a tree full of ripened mangoes. The devotees immediately picked around two hundred mangoes and then offered them to Lord Krishna. Daily, after kirtana with Lord Caitanya and Nityananda Prabhu, the devotees would hold a mango eating festival. The tree would give mangoes all year without interruption and the fruits were all red and yellow and had neither seeds inside nor skins outside. By eating only one the devotee was satisfied. Every day for one year, Lord Caitanya and the devotees would enjoy eating mangoes at this place. At the end of the year, the mango tree disappeared.

Lord Caitanya's mango tree pastime in Amraghatta is described in this excerpt from Caitanya-caritamrta Adi lila 17.79-87:

"One day the Lord performed sankirtana with all His devotees, and when they were greatly fatigued they sat down. The Lord then sowed a mango seed in the yard, and immediately the seed fructified into a tree and began to grow. As people looked on, the tree became fully grown, with fruits that fully ripened. Thus everyone was struck with wonder. The Lord immediately picked about two hundred fruits, and after washing them He offered them to Krsna to eat. The fruits were all red and yellow, with no seed inside and no skin outside, and eating one fruit would immediately fill a man's belly. Seeing the quality of the mangoes, the Lord was greatly satisfied, and thus after eating first, He fed all the other devotees. The fruits had no seeds or skins. They were full of nectarean juice and were so sweet that a man would be fully satisfied by eating only one. In this way, fruits grew on the tree every day throughout the twelve months of the year, and the Vaisnavas used to eat them, to the Lord's great satisfaction. These are confidential pastimes of the son of Saci. Other than devotees, no one knows of this incident."

In the Bhaktivedanta Purport to the last verse above, Srila Prabhupada writes: "Nondevotees cannot believe this incident, yet the place where the tree grew still exists in Mayapur. It is called Amra-ghatta or Ama-ghata."

Directions: Turn right outside Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s house and continue down the same road. You will see a railway line on the right of the road and, after a few kilometers, a signboard for the “Amghat Railway Station”. Almost immediately after that, on the left, is the mango grove. It is about twenty minutes by rickshaw from Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s house.