Glories of Ranibari Maha Tirtha Dham
Ranibari is a small village located in the district of Karimganj, Assam, India. It is a very beautiful village with many hilly tracks, with much resemblance to the hilly playground tracks of Radha and Krishna in Govardhan, Vrindavan. According to Mounibaba, Mahaprabhu Sri Chaitanya and his associates have a very merciful glance or dristi at this place. Radha Krishna find his place very serene, calm and peaceful which suits best for their sweet pastimes.
Ranibari holds a very special place as a tirtha, since many Mahapurush have find this place suitable to make it their residence, most importantly Sri Sri Mounibaba, his guru Sri Sri Anandamoy Brahmachari and his sister Srimati Archana Brahmachari. It is a all in one – a tantra shakti pith, a yoga pith, and a vaishnav pith. Any person who wants to continue with his sadhana, will find the spiritual vibration and aura of this place. Mounibaba also commented that one day, this place will become a Maha Tirtha or a pilgrim to common people, and many devotees knowing the importance, will rush to this place like other pilgrims such as Vrindavan and Puri.
Further, Mounibaba in his last days said that the area encircling Ranibari with a radius of 50km would be protected from any big dangers in future and even from nuclear weapons. Mounibaba (Sachchidananda Nath) also established the Sachchidananda Natheshwar Shiva Linga in this place and said he will eternally reside here till the end of creation. He said that anyone offering him obeisance to this Shiva Mantra – “oṁ namastubhyam virupāksha namaste divya chaksuse namah pināka-hastāya vajra-hastyābhyā namaḥ” , the prayer will come directly to him. It is also noteworthy that Gurudas, Kushi and Gurudasi had done Shiva Puja directly on the body of Mounibaba at this very place of Ranibari in his end life on 1989.
Mounibaba’s ancestral house is in Ranibari. Though most of his life he spent in Himalayas, Vrindavan and other places, but he permanently came to Ranibari in 1982 and stayed there till his Maha Samadhi on 8th March, 1989. His MahaSamadhi room, Anadeshwar Shivalay, Yajna Mandir, Rameshwar Dham (his ancestral property), etc is preserved till date at Ranibari Dham by devotees.
Ranibari also marks the very important place where many memorable Harinaam Sankirtan were conducted by the order of Mounibaba, in his final phase of life. Devotees felt the manifestation of Navadwip Dham in such Kirtans, where people used to cry, laugh, jump in Premananda, including the Bhava Samadhi of Gurudas. Gurudas said, they used to feel simultaneous occurrence of Goura Lila and Krishna Lila there. Famous kirtaniya of the entire valley Sri Ramendra Mohan Goswami, a very close devotee of Mahaprabhu, saw Mahaprabhu in Mounibaba and then fainted in Bhava.
Mounibaba also conducted the Vishwa Shanti Brahma Yajna at this place on 1989, 2 months before his Maha Samadhi and the yajna was intended for world peace. He also became kalpa taru here, means a wish fulfilling tree, and he asked people to make him wish while offering pranam. But they should ask the wish in their mind only and not to recite loudly. All wishes got fulfilled and there are evidences of this across the valley. He also conducted Durga Puja in Ranibari in 1977 for the upliftment of women class. People felt the kriya of Maha Shakti within them on the day of Dashami. During those days, Mounibaba also saved Gurudas from the danger of death like fever of 106 degree. He pulled all fever from Gurudas to his body by loudly reciting omkar and then fainted. After gaining consciousness, he asked Gurudas to sing kirtan and Jaya Guru Mahanaam to him. Gurudas in such weak condition obeyed guru’s order and later told that a golden light encapsulated him into a divine bliss, finally both guru’s and disciple’s life were saved by the kirtan.
Further, Ranibari also holds residence of Gurudas, Kushi and Gurudasi, the siddhas and guru of this era. They all did their sadhana bhajan in their respective house and attained maha siddhi. Hence this place Ranibari holds too much significance, giving shelter to so many Mahapurush, and finally making it the special place of mercy of God!
What are the important places in Ranibari Dham to visit?
- Mounibaba Milon Mandir
- Gurudas Yogashram and Kushi Ranjan Yogashram
- Radha Govinda Mandir, Anandeshwar Shivalay, Mounibaba Mahasamdhi room
- Rameshwar Dham (Mounibaba’s ancestral house), Mahasamadhi Mandir
- Bhairav Mandir
- Radha Madanmohan Mandir at Raj Goswami’s house
Mounibaba Milon Mandir
Mounibaba Milon Mandir is the first temple built for Mounibaba by his disciples and devotees and inaugurated on 9th April, 2009. It was built in the land of Sri Kushi Ranjan Bhattacharjee as a generous donation for establishing the Guru Mandir and with lead initiative from Gurudas, his elder brother, followed by the contribution of many other disciples like Rakesh, Bhavesh etc. The deity of Mounibaba is built with white marble stone from the sculptors of Kolkata. The Mandir consists of Mounibaba Murti along with Guru Paduka, Guruma Manada Sundari Devi’s photo, Sachchidanda Natheshwar Shiva Linga, Radha Madhav deity and Hanuman deity. The temple consists of deities from all yugas (Satya, Treta, Dwapar and Kali) and also signifies combination of Shakta, Shaiva and Vaishnav lineages, hence Gurudas named it as Milon Mandir, where everything is being merged together, such people from any background and sampradaya finds solace here. Also the asana bed where Mounibaba deity is being placed, Gurudas placed here the dust from important pilgrims like Vrindavan, Mathura, Puri, Navadwip, etc. followed by the piece of Jagannath’s flag from puri and his wood, gifted to him by Saswati Maa of Omkarnath Milon Mandir of Puri. It holds a very important place of uniting all devotees in Ranibari and all important festivals and celebrations are done here on important occasions like Mounibaba Appearance Day, disappearance day, Manada Sundari Devi’s appearance day, Jhulan Purnima, Dul Purnima, Ras Purnima, Mandir Inauguration Day, Mission Inauguration Day, Janmasthami, MahaShiva Ratra, etc. Kirtan is organised on such occasions followed by a Brahma Yajna, prasad distribution, children programme, Gita Path, Satsang Katha, etc. The young devotee group of Ranibari regularly organises Kirtan here on every month with their wise initiatives.
Gurudasji stays in Silchar now in his house with his son Kishalaya and his daughter in law Madhumita. Due to his old age, they serve him and take care of his health and make sure of his spiritual requirements and wellbeing. He occasionally visits Ranibari and stays there for months. Many gets initiated when he goes to Ranibari and many finds their life blessed with his holy association. Gurudasi stays in seclusion in Radha Govinda Mandir Ashram or Anandeshwar Shivalaya, continuing her sadhana and nitya guru seva.
Some glimpses of various festivals at Mounibaba Milon Mandir
Anandeshwar Shivalay
Another great place of importance is Anandeshwar Shivalay. This place was built by Archana Brahmacharini, the elder sister or Mejo Didi of Mounibaba. Archana Brahmacharini shifted to Ranibari, after staying with her guru Sri Anandamoy Brahmachari in Kashi on his order and made an ashram on the name of her Sadguru. Further a Vaishnavi Saint from Vrindavan gifted her the deity of Radha Govinda, as asked by Srimati Radharani on a dream, since Archana is a great devotee of Yugal Kishore. Hence Radha Govinda playfully came to his holy land of Ranibari to play on the hilly tracks, much similar to Giri Govardhan of Vrindavan Dham. Mounibaba after coming to Ranibari in 1982 stayed in Rameshwar Dham, his ancestral house for some years and then finally shifted his asana to Anandeshwar Shivalaya. Then Gurudasi was appointed to take care of Mounibaba and her love for her guru reached unbounded infinity. She remained unmarried whole life as a Brahmacharini and with the ideals of her maternal grandmother Archana, she served Shiva Guru till his Mahasamadhi. She stayed with Mounibaba always and served him in every way possible, hence being greatly satisfied by her service, Mounibaba named Shukla as Gurudasi. This place has the Yajna Mandir, Anandeshwar Shiva Linga, Sacchidananda Shiva Linga, Radha Govinda and the room where Mounibaba ended his human like pastime in Mahasamadhi. Hence this is a very important place.
Rameshwar Dham
Rameshwar Dham is the ancestral house of Mounibaba. After settling his family with three sons and one daughter, Mounibaba again left for the Himalayas for higher sadhana. Then Sri Manada Sundari Devi took care and responsibility of the whole family and for upbringing of her children. After partition of East Pakistan, Manada Sundari Devi shifted to Ranibari with her children and started to stay with the family of her in laws. Then Mounibaba suddenly came to Ranibari on 1952 with some of his wealthy disciples of Kolkata. With the help of his disciples, Mounibaba brought a land with some hilly tracks and built a house, which he named as “Rameshwar Dham” on the name of his father Sri Ramchandra Chakraborty. Then he stayed here for some time with his family and disciples. He then started doing Pancha tapa Sadhana, burning a total of 35 dhunis or fire with few inside the room and rest outside in the entire hilly tracks. Suprisingly, all the fire used to burn all day and night in all seasons of the year. He used to sit in between five dhunis and do sadhana. It is called Pancha tapa, since these five fire purifies the five elements of the nature and give siddhi of the five elements, making the yogi MahaShaktidhar (owner of great spiritual potency).
Many kirtans were organised here on his order at various times and the most memorable one was the kirtan of 1977, much of which is mentioned in the biography book.
After his Mahasamadhi, his sons namely Sri Rajat Kanti Chakraborty and others took the initiative to build the Mounibaba Samadhi Mandir, at the place where his final rites were done. This temple and place is very sacred and many pastimes happened here after his passing away. People still feel the spiritual vibrations here.
How to reach Ranibari?
Flight: Reach Silchar directly via plane. Then book a cab and reach Ranibari directly, or first come to Karimganj and then reach Ranibari via any auto.
Train: Reach directly to Karimganj, via train. Then book a cab or an auto and reach Ranibari.
Bus: Reach Karimganj directly and then take a cab or an auto and reach Ranibari