Panihati Chida Dahi Utsava

The festival of Panihati Chida Dahi is celebrated among the devotees of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu on the Trayodashi of Shukla Paksha in the month of Jyeshtha. A sweet pastime took place on this day, including Raghunatha Dasa and Lord Nityananda, sometimes known as Dandotsava—the celebration of punishment.
 

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Krishna himself in the form of a devotee, supported by Sri Nityananda Prabhu, Balaram, came to spread the chant of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra, and Raghunatha Dasa, born into a wealthy Bengal family, was disconnected from worldly life. After hearing about Mahaprabhu from Haridas Thakur, he became very devoted. Mahaprabhu urged him to wait for the right moment, even though he was ready to renounce everything at the age of fifteen.
 

The festival of Panihati Chida Dahi took place on the shores of the river Ganga near Panihati, the northern region of West Bengal. Lord Caitanya and his associates performed several transcendental pastimes here. Lord Nityananda visited this same place with his associates. When a pure devotee, Raghunatha Dasa, heard about Nityananda Prabhu's arrival, he eagerly wanted to take darshan of the Lord. Lord Nityananda was sitting under a banyan tree, and Raghunatha, with a feeling of not being qualified, offered his respects from a distance.

Upon finding this out, Lord Nityananda playfully called him out, accusing him of “hiding like a thief,” and joked that he will be punished. Then, placing His lotus feet on Raghunatha’s head, the Lord told him to arrange for a grand festival and feed the Vaishnavas chipped rice and yogurt. This was a great mercy shown to Raghunatha.

Soon, Raghunatha enthusiastically collected milk, yogurt, sugar, bananas, chipped rice, and other materials to serve the Vaishnavas. The procedure involved soaking the chipped rice in hot milk in large earthen pots, then combining half with yogurt and the remaining portion with condensed milk. Sugar, bananas, ghee, camphor, and various other fruits were then added to enhance the flavor.

When the preparation was complete, it was brought to Sri Nityananda Prabhu, who was seated on a raised platform, in seven big pots. He also requested other learned scholars, Brahmanas, and Pujaris to sit alongside him.Two pots, one with chipped rice and yogurt and the other with chipped rice and condensed milk, were given to each devotee. They all sat encircling the Lord.

In a deep meditative state, Lord Nityananda brought Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to the festival. Even though not all could see Him, both lords looked at how the devotees joyfully relished the Chida Dahi feast. Then Nityananda Prabhu took morsels from the pots of each devotee and fed those to Mahaprabhu with great love. In the reciprocation, even Mahaprabhu fed a few morsels of preparation to Nityananda Prabhu. Only a few fortunate souls could see this loving exchange of these two divine brothers. It was as if Krishna and Balaram were enjoying lunch packed by Mother Yashoda in the forests of Vrindavana.

All of the devotees were instructed to sing the holy names of the Lord loudly by Nityananda Prabhu to increase the ecstasy. And everyone in one voice started saying Hari-Hari. The whole atmosphere was filled with the transcendental vibrations of the holy name of the Lord.

By the mercy of Lord Nityananda, Raghunatha Dasa later renounced everything and became an associate of Lord Chaitanya and became one of the six Goswamis of Vrindavan, who uncovered various pastime places of Radha and Krishna in Vrindavan and wrote commentaries on Vedic literature.

Chida-Dahi Mahotsav hosts an enthusiastic feast of yogurt and chipped rice to honor the Lord's gracious reciprocation with His devotees. With tremendous enthusiasm among the Gaudiya Vaishnavas seeking the mercy of Sri Chaitanya and Nityananda by offering the sweet preparation of Chida Dahi, this year's special festival is observed on June 9.