First Visit to Sri Puri Dham

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
6 April 2013, Sri Puri Dham

This temple was made by the mercy of Gurudev, although it is a very small temple, but it is very nice and sweet. Param Guru Maharaj, Srila Sridhar Maharaj, wanted to make a temple here, and by the mercy of Gurudev we are here now—we have got an opportunity to come and stay here sometimes. So many devotees come here during the festival time, and if you can also join us, I will be very happy.

Actually, at first I did not come here. It had always been my wish to come to Puri, but I never asked Gurudev if I could go. One day, it was 1999, some time after Gaura Purnima and before Ratha Yatra, the person who was in charge of the temple here, one vanachari (one who was a householder but then left his family and became a brahmachari), called Gurudev and gave him bad news. Gurudev did not sleep the whole night and early in the morning called me on the landline phone. (In those days we did not really have mobile phones.) Gurudev said to me, "Acharya Maharaj, I did not sleep the whole night. Somebody might have possessed our land in Puri." At that time, the Sevak Bhavan was not there—there was only sand and the land was very low; so somebody broke the wall and took over that land—built a temporary house. Gurudev sent me there to solve it.

When I came to Jagannath Dham for the first time, I went alone and did not even know how to get there—I did not buy a proper train ticket, I came with some general train ticket; but by the mercy of Gurudev, I could remove that man from the land.

I came to Puri first time through service—without service Gurudev would not have sent me here and I would not come myself.

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