The samadhi sthal of Madhavendra Puri. Telegraph pictures

Balasore, March 27: Remuna, one of the prominent tourist spots in Balasore, has been the key attraction for visitors because of the famous Kshirochora Gopinath temple. Another historically significant monument here is the ancient Gaudiya Vaishnavite monastery, where Chaitanya Dev had spent a long time.

Lying a few metres away from the Kshirochora Gopinath temple that has received its due attention, the Gaudiya Vaishnavite monastery is, however, in a dilapidated condition. It is the samadhi sthal (tomb) of Madhavendra Puri, the spiritual guru of Chaitanya Dev, who breathed his last at Remuna about five centuries ago.

Though the area of the place, spread over about 80 decimal, is left without any boundary wall. Many followers of Gaudiya sect pay frequent visits to the site and yet it bears a shabby look with few facilities in it for visitors.

“Our record says, the saint left for the heavenly abode in 1501. He was buried in the monastery by his disciple Rasikananda Swami,” said the 74-year-old Achyutananda Das, the present mahant and caretaker of the tomb.

“I am the caretaker of a property, which is hardly secured. Whatever one sees now has been made out of donation. The samadhi sthal was renovated by a devotee from Bengal in 1984 while the asbestos roof has been made by a devotee from Tatanagar in 2008,” he said.

“The monastery is looked after by the Gopinath temple management,” he said.

Hundreds of devotees throng the monastery to pay tribute to the tomb of Madhavendra Puri during special occasions, such as, the saint’s birth and death anniversaries and the annual car festival at Puri.

“Common tourists often skip this spot because of lesser propagation and publicity,” said Mahumaya Basu, a local resident. “The shrine needs overall renovation and publicity,” he said.

“We try to take as much care as possible on our part with limited available resources,” said Sarat Chandra Nayak, executive officer of the Kshirochora Gopinath temple.

“I would examine the difficulties and try to remove them after consulting with the trust board members,” said district collector Akhil Vihari Ota.

Legend goes that the deity of the nearby temple was earlier known as Gopinath, but after stealing khira (a sweet preparation of condensed milk) for saint Madhavendra, the deity has been named Kshirochora Gopinath.

Madhavendra used to stay in Vrindavan and was a devotee of Lord Krishna. Once the saint visited Puri to fetch sandal pulp for the Lord. On his way back to Vrindavan, Madhavendra stayed at this temple. During the sandhya aarti (evening prayer), the deity was provided with eight pots of khira as part of the ritual. On seeing this, Madhavendra aspired to taste the khira.

A little later, it was discovered that one pot of khira had gone missing. At night, the main priest of the temple, in his dream, received an order from Gopinath that the Lord, Himself, had stolen the pot and kept it hidden under His cloth in order to have it delivered to Madhavendra Puri. The priest at once rushed to the sanctum sanctorum and found the pot under the deity’s cloth.

The priest, then and there, carried the khira to Goudiya math — 1.5km from the temple — where Madhavendra was sleeping. He woke up Madhavendra and offered him the khira. Pilgrims cutting across religions are allowed to visit this temple.