Srila Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja
gauravirbhava-bhumes tvam nirdeshta saj-jana-priyah
vaishnava-sarvabhaumah shri-jagannathaya te namah
I offer my respectful obeisances to Jagannatha dasa Babaji, who is respected by the entire Vaishnava community and who discovered the place where Lord Caitanya appeared.
So under the direction of Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja, this present Yogapīṭha was ascertained to be the birth site of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in the beginning wanted to develop this place very gloriously, befitting the holy name of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So he started this movement of developing Māyāpur. He could not finish it, so it was handed down to Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura. So under his effort, assisted by his disciples, this place has gradually developed, and our attempt is also to develop this place. Therefore we have named this temple Māyāpur Chandrodaya. We have got great ambition to develop this place nicely and gloriously, and fortunately we are now connected with foreign countries, especially with the Americans. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s great desire was that the Americans would come here and develop this place, and they would chant and dance along with the Indians.
So his dream, as well as Caitanya Mahāprabhu's foretelling,
pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma
sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma
(CB Antya-khaṇḍa 4.126)
(760221 – Lecture Festival Appearance Day, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati – Mayapur)
As all of you know, here in Navadvīpa, Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared. His father came from Sylhet where he used to reside on the banks of Gaṅgā. His wife was Śacī-devī, the daughter of Nilambar Cakravartī Ṭhākura. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura was very keen to find the original birthplace of Mahāprabhu. People used to say that Mahāprabhu’s birthplace had disappeared, but he did not believe that. There was a tulasi forest at Yoga-pīṭha in to Māyāpura where Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī would sing bhajana. He revealed to Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura that this was the place where Mahāprabhu appeared. “mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ” (Sri Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya 17.186) Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī was very old. He would constanstly chant Hari-nāma. He lived in Vṛndāvana, and later moved (to Māyāpura) and lived here. Based on his revelation, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura tried his utmost to develop the place to the best of his financial ability. He took charge of the place, and then he formed the ‘Dhāma Pracārinī Sabhā’ to invoke the interest of the people.
(740929 – Lecture Bengali – Mayapur)