Mayapur India
178
Cruises availables
At departure or passage at this port
Scenic Cruises (74 Cruises)
Scenic Aura
74 Cruises
Uniworld Boutique River Cruise (104 Cruises)
Ganges Voyager II
104 Cruises
| 19 September | 12 days | One-way from New Delhi to Kolkata |
450-628-6241
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| 28 September | 12 days | One-way from New Delhi to Kolkata |
450-628-6241
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Frequently Asked Questions
About 130 kilometres north of Kolkata, at the confluence of the Bhagirathi and the Jalangi. It is one of the few major Hindu holy places reached by water, as pilgrims once arrived: river ships tie up at the bank, at the foot of the campus.
Because everything here refers to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, a saint and reformer born in 1486 whom his followers revere as an incarnation of Krishna. He made collective chanting of the divine names a spiritual path in its own right, and the practice still resounds on every street.
The slender temple, set in gardens, marking Chaitanya's birthplace. It conveys at once the particular devotion of Bengal: neither spectacular nor austere, but constant, woven into ordinary gestures.
The world headquarters of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, founded in 1966. The campus is a small city: temples, schools, guest houses, refectories and gardens. More than a million visitors and pilgrims pass through each year, from across India and from five continents.
The central temple of the campus, among the largest Hindu places of worship ever attempted. Its bluish main dome is visible for kilometres and rises out of the Bengal plain long before the ship reaches the bank.
Without an elaborate plan: follow the flow. The halls where devotees chant before the altars of Radha and Krishna, the pilgrims' bazaar stacked with flower garlands, books and milk sweets, the gardens tended by the community. The visit runs to the rhythm of the chanting, not to a timetable.
Shoulders and knees covered, shoes left at the entrance to shrines, quiet during ceremonies. Visitors are welcomed with real hospitality, provided the customs are respected — Mayapur is first of all a pilgrimage site.
Yes, vegetarian meals are served to everyone, simple and fragrant. They rank among the best memories people bring back from this call, and they are as much part of the experience as the temples.
The old town on the far bank, one of Bengal's great centres of Sanskrit learning and inseparable from Chaitanya's memory. Local boats shuttle between the two shores, loaded with worshippers, bicycles and baskets.
Yes, if the call's programme allows. It gives the finest view of the confluence and takes you, in one crossing, from the large modern campus to old lanes where temples hide behind the shopfronts.
