Tota Gopinath Temple

Tota Gopinath Temple is the only temple in the world with a seated Deity of Lord Sri Krishna. The Deity of Tota Gopinath is so beautiful that even the heart of deadly atheist will melt upon having the darshan of this Deity.

Tota Gopinath Temple is situated within the Yameshwara Tota area of Sri Jagannath Puri Dham. This temple is famous mainly amongst the Gaudiya Vaishnava devotees, the followers of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The temple is seldom visited by any other devotee outside the Gaudiya Vaishnava Parampara. It is like a well-guarded secret temple of Puri. Hence the temple remains empty all throughout the day.

The origin of Tota Gopinath Temple

After the 5000 years of Kali-yuga had elapsed, Lord Krishna advented Himself along with Srimati Radharani to this world as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The mission of the Lord was to initiate the chanting of the holy names of Krishna as the only means of deliverance in this Kali-yuga. Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had made Jagannath Puri as His primeval seat for preaching Vaishnavism.

Once in Jagannath Puri, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu became overwhelmed with the love of Lord Krishna and began searching for Him. The nearby sand dunes of Chataka Parvata appeared to Him like Govardhana Hill and the sea flowing to be Yamuna River. In ecstasy Chaitanya Mahaprabhu began digging the sand and found the vigraha of Lord Krishna which He named as Gopinath. Because the Deity was found within the tota or a garden, He was named as Tota Gopinath.

Lord Chaitanya entrusted the worship of this vigraha to His dearmost disciple – Sri Gadadhara Pandit who was the incarnation of Srimati Radharani. Gadadhara Pandit began serving the Deity of Gopinath with love and devotion.

Everyday Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would visit Gadadhara’s house to have darshan of Tota Gopinath and everyday Gadadhara Pandit would read Srimad-Bhagavatam to Him. Once when Nityananda Prabhu, the closest associate of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu arrived at Puri, He visited the house of Gadadhara Pandit. The latter prepared nice delicacies and served Nityananda Prabhu as well as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

How did Gopinath sit down?

Originally the vigraha in the Tota Gopinath Temple was in a standing pose. The Lord was in a tribhangi form, His body bent at three places. The beauty of Tota Gopinath is irresistible. It appears to pull the onlooker towards itself like a strong magnet.

After manifesting His physical lilas in this material world for forty-eight years, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu concluded His avatara in this world. Once, while the kirtana was going on in the Tota Gopinath Temple, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was dancing in ecstasy. He then entered the altar of Tota Gopinath and disappeared permanently into this world.

Lord Chaitanya returned to the spiritual world by entering the Deity of Tota Gopinath. The spot where Chaitanya Mahaprabhu disappeared into the Deity is still visible as a golden line near the knee of Lord Tota Gopinath.

After the disappearance of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Gadadhara Pandit became motionless, unable to tolerate the separation from his dear Lord. The strength of his body deteriorated. His body bent and his hands shook while decorating the body of Tota Gopinath or even garland the Deity who was quite tall.

Lord Gopinath, understanding the deep desires of his great devotee Gadadhara Pandit appeared in his dream and informed him that He would become shorter to accept the seva. On next morning, when Gadadhara Pandit came to temple, he saw that Gopinath had seated Himself in padmasana and became shorter so that Gadadhara Pandit could easily worship Him.

The Supreme Lord Krishna is directly under the control and command of His devotees. The Lord is so pleased by the devotion and service of His devotees that He keeps finding ways to serve them. The incident of Tota Gopinath being seated also showcases how Krishna is eager to accept the service of His devotees.

Since that day on, Lord Tota Gopinath has been seating and receiving the worship of His dear devotees who come eagerly to have His darshan.

Darshan in the Tota Gopinath Temple

There are three altars within the Tota Gopinath Temple. On the central altar, one can have darshan of Sri Tota Gopinath along with the Deities of Srimati Radharani and Lalita, on the left and right-hand side of Tota Gopinath. Radharani holds vina and Lalita sakhi is holding a flute. Radharani is in the three bent form which is very unlikely to be seen anywhere else in the world. Both the Deities of Radharani and Lalitha Sakhi are black in complexion as They are engrossed in the form of Lord Krishna.

On the left altar, one can have darshan of Sri Balarama playing flute. He is accompanied by Revati on the left and Varuni on the right.

On the right altar of Tota Gopinath Temple there are Deities of Gaura Gadadhara and the Radha Madana Mohana installed by Sri Mamu Thakura. Throughout the temple, on its walls one can see beautiful paintings portraying the lilas of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu.

Temple Timings of Tota Gopinath Temple

Tota Gopinath Temple follows the worship based on Hari Bhakti Vilasa as enjoined by Santana Goswami. This form of worship is extracted from Pancha Ratrika Vidhi. This is a very strict form of worship and hence the temple is strict about the timings.

Morning – 07:00 am to 12:30 pm
Evening – 05:00 pm to 08:00 pm

If devotees wish to see the padmasana pose of Lord Tota Gopinath, they should visit the temple at 05:00 am for mangala-arati. A small ticket of INR 50.00 is charged for this darshan.

How to reach Tota Gopinath Temple

Tota Gopinath Temple is in the Yameshwara Tota area of Jagannath Puri. To relish this temple visit with Tirtha Yatra on the Jagannath Puri Yatra. All the arrangements are well taken care of, while you engage yourself in just having peaceful darshan.

You may use the following methods if visiting this temple on your own:

By Air – Bhubaneswar Airport is the nearest airport to Puri. From Bhubaneswar Airport you may reach Puri by rail or by road and then reach Tota Gopinath Temple

By Rail – Puri is the nearest Railway station. From Puri Railway Station, there are autos available to reach this temple. If not Puri, you may travel to Bhubaneswar Railway Station and from there on take a train to Puri.

By Road – Puri is well connected by roadways. From Bhubaneswar, there are lot of State Transport buses plying to Puri. You may also hire a taxi from Bhubaneswar to reach Puri and then reach the temple.