Situated on Satasana Road, next to Iskcon Bhakti Kuti (Bhaktivinoda Thakur’s house) and Srila Haridas Thakur’s samadhi, one shall locate Sat Asana Mathas, which are actually seven temples that had been established to celebrate the pastimes of seven celestial sages (sapta-rishis) who had once meditated at this place. These seven celestial sages namely Kashyapa, Atri, Vasistha, Viswamitra, Gautama, Jamadagni, and Bharadvaja are glorified throughout the Vedic scriptures. Later many associates of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had also performed their bhajan at these sacred places. A brief description of these seven temples or asanas is provided below. Out of the seven temples that were previously established, only four remain at present – Giridhari math, Syamasundara math, Madana Mohana math, and Krishna Balaram Math.
#1 Bada Asana – Bada asana is the bhajan Kutir of Srila Svarupa Damodara Goswami, who was an intimate associate of Sri Chaitanya. Though this temple no longer exists, it is believed that Sri Radha Damodara jiu, the deities of Svarupa Damodara, is presently worshiped at Giridhari math. An alternative opinion is that these deities at Giridhari math are not the original deities of Svarupa Damodara.
#2 Kadali Patka Asana – Srila Svarupa das Babaji, an exalted Vaishnava, performed his bhajan at this place. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has highly glorified Srila Svarupa das Babaji and he used to often come here (Kadali-patka-asana) to meet him. Svarupa das Babaji was blind. Yet he used to wake up early in the morning and bathe in the ocean even when it was pitch dark. There is no doubt that Svarupa Dasa Babaji was a perfected soul.
#3 Sri Giridhari asana – Giridhari math is where Jagadananda Pandita had performed his bhajan. Jagadananda pandita, author of Prema Vivarta, was an intimate associate of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and the incarnation of Satyabhama devi.
#4 Gumpha asana – This temple also no longer exists at present. It was a place where numerous Vaishnavas congregated to perform their meditation.
#5 Madana Mohana asana – This is the bhajan Kutir of Srila Raghunath das Goswami. Enchanting deities of Sri Radha Madana Mohana deities are worshiped here.
#6 Krishna Balaram Asana – Enchanting deities of Krishna Balaram are worshiped here. It is said to have been the bhajan kutir of Chota Haridas.
#7 Syamasundara asana – This is said to be the bhajan kutir of both Brahmananda Bharati and Svarupa Damodara. Enchanting deities of Lord Syamasundara are worshiped here.
How to Reach :
These four temples Giridhari math, Syamasundara math, Madana Mohana math, and Krishna Balaram Math are situated on Satasana Road, next to Iskcon bhakti Kuti. The site is a five minutes walking distance from Swargadwar, Jagannath Puri.
Accommodation – One can choose to stay in any of the prominent hotels of Jagannath Puri.
Nearest Railway station – Jagannath Puri Railway Station
Nearest major airport – Biju Patnaik International Airport, Bhubaneswar.
At the time of writing this article, there is another airport presently being constructed at Jagannath Puri. However, this airport at Puri has not yet become operational.