Panihati is the name of a village located in the state of West Bengal, on the banks of River Ganges (10 miles north of Kolkata). It was one of the leading trade centres in earlier days when the river route was the main means of communication. In the sixteenth century, when Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared to propagate the Sankirtana Movement, Panihati became a major centre of the Gaudiya Vaishnavas.The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna, appeared as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu at Sridhama Mayapura (a quarter in the city of Navadvipa) in Bengal, in the year 1486 AD. The purpose of His incarnation was to establish the Yuga-dharma – the congregational chanting of the holy names of the Lord. Lord Balarama appeared as Nityananda Prabhu, and many other eternal associates of the Lord appeared at that time to join His mission. Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami was one of them.
Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami was a devotee of the highest order and wanted to leave home and join Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s Sankirtan Mission. But Chaitanya Mahaprabhu asked him not to do so and assured that Krishna would deliver him soon from the clutches of maya. Two years later, Nityananda Prabhu came to Panihati and stayed there. Raghunatha dasa, who was staying in the nearby village of Srikrishnapura took permission from his father Govardhan Mazumdar and went to Panihati to meet Nityananda Prabhu.
At Panihati, he saw Nityananda Prabhu sitting on a rock surrounded by many devotees under a banyan tree on the banks of the River Ganges. Raghunatha dasa was hesitant to approach the Lord and paid obeisances from a distance. However Lord Nityananda noticed him & forcibly caught him and put His lotus feet on Raghunatha’s head. He ordered Raghunatha to celebrate a big festival and serve all the devotees – with yogurt and chipped rice.
Raghunatha dasa immediately arranged to purchase chipped rice (chida), milk, yogurt, sweetmeats, bananas, sugar and other eatables. The chipped rice was soaked in milk. Half of that was then mixed with yogurt, sugar and bananas. The remaining half was mixed with condensed milk and flavoured with clarified butter (Ghee) and camphor. All the devotees received two earthen pots, one with chipped rice mixed with yogurt and another with chipped rice mixed with condensed milk.
The Chida-dahi Mahotsava is celebrated every year in commemoration of this wonderful pastime. It is celebrated on the thirteenth day of the bright moon in the month of Jyeshta (May-June). To this day, pilgrims visit Panihati to celebrate the Chida-dahi Festival.
