Appearance Day of Sri Locana Dasa Thakura

What is the appearance day of Sri Locana Dasa Thakura?

Sri Locana Dasa Thakura is the poet-saint who sang of Lord Caitanya in Bengali, and devotees remember him on his appearance day, which in 2027 falls on Friday, 8 January. He is best known for Sri Caitanya-mangala, a biography of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu in verse.

Significance

Locana Dasa Thakura appeared in a family of physicians in the village of Kogram, in Barddhaman. His spiritual master was Srila Narahari Sarakara Thakura, and he spent much of his youth with his guru at Srikhanda, where he learned kirtana.

For his Caitanya-mangala he drew on the Sanskrit work of Murari Gupta, which he had heard from Damodara Pandita, and retold it in the sung Bengali verse style called panchali. Introducing one of his songs in a lecture, Srila Prabhupada spoke of him with respect:

This is a song sung by Locana dāsa Ṭhākura, a great devotee of Lord Caitanya, almost contemporary. He wrote one book, Caitanya-maṅgala, depicting the activities of Lord Caitanya.

Lecture, Los Angeles, 16 January 1969

How to observe it

Devotees honour Locana Dasa Thakura by hearing the pastimes of Lord Caitanya and singing the songs he left behind, such as Parama Karuna. He prayed to serve his guru Narahari Sarakara Thakura and, by that mercy, to sing the glories of Sri Gauranga. Make that prayer your own for the day, and chant the holy names of Krishna.