The Sri Saraswat Gaudiya Vaishnava Sangha, an assemblage of 55 Gaudiya Maths celebrated the 181^st Appearance day of Srila Sacchidanand Bhaktivinod Thakur, most prominent Acharya of Gaudiya Vaishnava society, at Surabhi Kunja, Swarupgunj, Nadia district on Saturday 22^ndof September. Thousands of devotees of Indian and foreign origin of various Gaudiya Maths and the International Society for Krishna Consciousness attended the festivities. 

The celebration began with bhajan at 9 am, followed by discourses by senior monks on the life and teachings of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur. After this, devotees offered Pushpanjali, and honoured the mahaprasadam, which was served to everyone.  

Later in the afternoon a procession carrying the Sri Vigraha (deity) of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur on a beautifully decorated chariot was taken out from Bhaktivedanta Arogya Ashram Jagannath temple at Swarupgunj to the bhajan kutir of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur. A large number of devotees from all over India and abroad performed harinama on the three kilometer route. Then young devotees presented a soulful dance drama on the illustrious life of the Vaishnava saint, Acharya Bhaktivinod Thakur. 

The objective of this festival was to evoke the feeling of love and compassion for every living being, which is the most essential message of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. “The proper understanding and observance of Mahaprabhu’s teachings is the perfect remedy to all the problems that human race is facing in this world, and it can be the harbinger of global peace and harmony,” feels Srimad Bhaktivedanta Avadut Maharaja, President of Saraswat Gaudiya Viashnava Sangha.

The Gaudiya Vaishnava saint Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur is credited to have identified the exact birth place of Sri Chaitanya MahaPrabhu at Mayapur, Nadia. As a result of his immense hard work and thorough research, he revived the teachings, literature and places of spiritual relevance, which had been lost with the passage of time. 

Further, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur institutionalised the Vaishnava culture, which was limited to a few households prior to his endeavour. He had an accomplished career,starting with teaching in rural areas of Bengal and Orissa, then he became an employee with the British Raj in the Judicial Service, from which he retired in 1894 as District Magistrate.  

He was an erudite scholar who penned more than 100 books in Bengali, English, Urdu, and Sanskrit. He has authored hundreds of Bengali  bhajans glorifying Lord Krishna and Mahaprabhu which are sung by devotees all across the world till date. 

He envisioned the spread of Gaudiya Vaishnavism in foreign lands in the 19^thcentury. He had  predicted that in the near future, Germans, French, and Englishmen will play “khol”,  “kartal” and will perform sankirtan shoulder to shoulder with Bengali devotees at Mayapur Dham.  

His dream was realised when His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad went to foreign land, spread Sanatana Dharma and started ISKCON in 1965 in NewYork. As a result of his efforts, today, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s philosophy has sprouted in every nook and corner of the world.