sodhitva tam kirtanadau sri-gaurasundarah prabhuh
tirtham dvadasakam tirtva sridharasya griham yayau

“Lord Sri Gaurasundara, during thetime of the first (adi) kirtana purifiedKamsa who had taken birth as ChandKazi and went to the house of Sridharaafter crossing dvadasa-tirtha (thetwelve tirthas).” (Navadvipa-dhamamahatmya,Pramana-khanda 4.35)

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura mention sin his Navadvipa-bhava-taranga: “In the center of Madhuvana is the place called Visrama-sthala. There stands the cottage of the Lord’s devotee named Sridhara and also a clear pond. After rectifying the Kazi, the Lord of the three worlds came here with His followers and rested. When will I shout “Ha Gauranga!” at this Visrama-sthala? When will I roll upon the ground and cry in solitude? Overwhelmed with emotions of ecstatic love, will I ever see the beautiful Gauranga-sundara drinking water from Sridhara’s ironpot? And when, by the power of great fortune, will my eyes behold the young son of Saci in the midst of a rousing kirtana along with Nityananda, Advaita, Gadadhara, and Srivasa, dancing and begging for ecstatic love at the house of Sridhara?”(Navadvipa – bhava – taranga)

Sri Navadvipa-dhama-mahatmya (Parikrama-khanda) describes: When Lord Nityananda took Sri Jivaon Navadvipa-mandala Parikrama they reached the house of Sridhara, or Kolaveca Sridhara (the banana vendor). This personality is also known as the cowherd boy Kusumasava in krishna-lila.

Nityananda Prabhu said, “At this placeMahaprabhu would take rest after completing His dancing and chanting. Therefore this place is known as Visramasthana or the place of rest.” When Sridhara heard about the arrival of Lord Nityananda, he immediately came forward and offered prostrated obeisance. He worshiped Lord Nityananda and said, “O, my Lord! You are very merciful towards this menial servant of Yours. I humbly request You to kindly take rest today at my residence.” Lord Nityananda said, “You are a very fortunate person. Lord Gauranga has personally blessed you. Today all of us will stay here and take rest.” Sridhara was extremely satisfied to hear this desire of Lord Nityananda. Immediately he brought all the ingredients for cooking and had a devotee brahmana cook the feast. First Lord Nityananda and Srivasa Thakura took prasada and after they had concluded their meal, Sri Jiva very happily honored prasada. When Nityananda Prabhu reclined on a bed after taking prasada, Sridhara, along with his whole family, massaged His divine lotus feet.

Darsana times: All the time

Directions: Enter the mango grove at the back of Sri Jagannatha temple in Rajapurusing the small gate at the rear of the temple. Ahead of you on the right side you will see a small building situated amongst a cluster of trees. This is the place.

Points of interest:

1. The building indicates the location of Sridhara’s house. This area is nondifferent from Madhuvana forest of Vrindavana where Krishna and Balarama had many pastimes with Their sakhas, cowherd boyfriends. One of these sakhas was Kusumasava Gopala sakha who appeared as Sridhara in Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s pastimes.

2. Shashthi-tirtha-kunda: On the rightside of the building you will see a field that is dug out and surrounded by raised edges. This was a kunda in Lord Caitanya’s time. Young Nimai used toplay here and also steal bananas from Sridhara’s near by banana patch.

3. Resting place: This place is also known as visrama-sthala (resting place) as Lord Caitanya would take rest here after performing kirtana.