Gundica Marjana
Disappearance Day of Sri Gadadhara Pandita · Disappearance Day of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
Festival
All day
What is Gundica Marjana?
Gundica Marjana is the washing and sweeping of the Gundica temple in Jagannatha Puri, where Lord Jagannatha stays for a week during Ratha Yatra. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu did this service Himself with His devotees to make the temple ready to receive the Lord. In 2027 it falls on Sunday, 4 July, the day before the car festival.
Significance
The Gundica temple lies about two miles northeast of the Jagannatha temple. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu asked the temple superintendent for a hundred new waterpots and a hundred brooms, and handed a broom to each devotee. Chanting Krishna's name, they swept the temple twice and then washed it. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura explained that the Lord was teaching how to receive Krishna in a heart that has first been cleansed. The way to do this is given in the Lord's Siksastaka: the holy name cleanses the mirror of the heart (ceto-darpana-marjanam).
To wash away all dirty things accumulated within the heart, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu advised everyone to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra.
Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 12.135, purport
How to observe it
Keep the day by cleaning with devotion. Sweep and wash your place of worship, wipe the altar, and chant Krishna's name as you work, as the devotees in Puri did. Read the account in the twelfth chapter of Madhya-lila in the Caitanya-caritamrta, and chant some extra rounds of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. This date is also the disappearance day of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Sri Gadadhara Pandita, and Ratha Yatra follows on Monday, 5 July.
Questions
When is Gundica Marjana in 2027?
Gundica Marjana falls on Sunday, 4 July 2027, the day before Ratha Yatra on Monday, 5 July. It is also the disappearance day of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Sri Gadadhara Pandita.
What is the Gundica temple?
It is a temple in Jagannatha Puri, about two miles northeast of the main Jagannatha temple. During Ratha Yatra, Lord Jagannatha travels there from His own temple, stays for one week, and then returns.
Why did Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu clean the Gundica temple?
He cleaned it to show by His own example how to prepare a place for Krishna. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura explained that the Lord was teaching how to receive Krishna in a heart cleansed and pacified by chanting and hearing about Him.
How can I observe Gundica Marjana at home?
Clean your home altar and worship space thoroughly while chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His devotees chanted while they cleaned. Then read the account in the Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila, chapter 12.
Reviewed by ISKCON Kurukshetra · Updated
Key facts
- Date
- Sunday, 4 July 2027
- Also on this day
- Disappearance Day of Sri Gadadhara Pandita · Disappearance Day of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
- Place
- Gundica temple, Jagannatha Puri
- Led by
- Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu
- Described in
- Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya-lila, chapter 12
Seva for this day
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