Sri Parmeshwar Das Thakur’s Sripat at Atpur, Hooghly District West Bengal: A Crucial Cradle of the Gaudiya Vaishnava Tradition

Shuvra Debnath Shuva; Rajiv Mandal

doi:10.36948/ijfmr.2025.v07i06.62525

Sri Parmeshwar Das Thakur’s Sripat at Atpur, Hooghly District West Bengal: A Crucial Cradle of the Gaudiya Vaishnava Tradition

Author(s)	Mr. Shuvra Debnath Shuva, Dr. Rajiv Mandal
Country	India
Abstract	This paper examines the Sripat of Sri Parmeshwar Das Thakur at Atpur, in the Hooghly district of West Bengal, as a multidimensional tirtha-space and a significant centre of Gaudiya Vaishnava culture. Drawing on Gaudiya Vaishnava hagiographical texts, local oral traditions and field-based observations of ritual and everyday practice, it places Parmeshwar Das—venerated as one of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s dvadasa Gopala and an intimate associate of Sri Nityananda Prabhu—within the broader historical and theological trajectories of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. The analysis interprets the architectural layout of the Sripat complex, particularly the main temple and the samadhi, as a sacralised extension of the rural Bengali household. It further explores the ways in which the Vigraha–murti–tattva at Atpur gives concrete material expression to complex theological ideas, with special attention to Radha–tattva and to the polyvalent position of Balaram or Nityananda as both expansion and mediator of Krishna. Moving beyond external form, the paper also investigates the affective dimensions of worship, foregrounding the prominence of sevaka-bhāva—the devotional mood of the servant—in both liturgical performance and everyday religious practice. Focusing on Holi or Dol-yatra, annakut, Durga Puja, Jhulan-yatra and other festivals, together with practices of prasada distribution and the circulation and enactment of miraculous narratives, the study shows how these elements collectively sustain a local “tirtha-culture.” It argues that the Sripat of Sri Parmeshwar Das functions not only as an important Gaudiya Vaishnava tirtha, but also as a crucial point of entry for understanding the entanglement of devotional lineages, sociocultural life and vernacular architecture in rural Bengal. The paper concludes by underscoring the urgent need for systematic documentation and community-based conservation of this and comparable sacred sites in the context of accelerating urbanisation, economic pressures and environmental degradation.
Keywords	Gaudiya Vaishnavism, Sri Parmeshwar Das Thakur, Bengal, Temple Architecture, Folk Religion, Pilgrimage.
Field	Arts
Published In	Volume 7, Issue 6, November-December 2025
Published On	2025-12-03
DOI	https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2025.v07i06.62525
Short DOI	https://doi.org/hbdsfs

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Sri Parmeshwar Das Thakur’s Sripat at Atpur, Hooghly District West Bengal: A Crucial Cradle of the Gaudiya Vaishnava Tradition

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