On Christmas day (25 December) of 1887 (when the holidays had begun), Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura came to Kuliyā Navadvīpa. He has written the following words in his autobiography that relate to his stay in Navadvīpa during this time.
“Although I searched everywhere for the Lord’s birthplace in Navadvīpa, I could not find it. I was greatly pained at heart because of this. Some of the people here in Navadvīpa only desire to fill their bellies. They don’t try in any regard to discover the location of the Lord’s birthplace. On one evening, Kamala (Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s son) and I went to the roof and eagerly glanced in all four directions. It was very dark at ten in the night, and it was cloudy. On the northern direction of the Gaṅgā, I beheld an extraordinary effulgence. “When I asked Kamala if he had also seen this wondrous sight, he replied in the affirmative. I was very surprised by what I saw.
The next morning, I saw the same place from the roof of the Rāṇī Dharmaśālā. There, I saw a tāla tree. When I inquired about the place, some people told me, ‘This place is called Ballāldhīgī. It still bears the signs of Lakṣmaṇa Sena’s fort.’
“I went to Krishnanagar on Monday and then to Ballāldhīgī on a Saturday. On beholding the same wondrous sight on the following night, I went to the selfsame place immediately on the next morning. I then had darśana of all the surrounding places by foot. After inquiring from the elderly gentlemen of those places, I realized that the place I had marked was Śrīman Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s birthplace. I again saw all the places and villages that were mentioned in Śrī Narahari Ṭhākura’s Parikramā-paddhati, Bhakti-ratnākara, and Śrīla Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura’s Caitanya-Bhāgavata.
“After writing Śrī Navadvīpa-dhāma-māhātmya in Krishnanagar, I sent the manuscript for publication in Kolkata. I then explained the landscape and geographical location of Navadvīpa Māyāpura to Krishnanagar’s engineer, Dvārakā Bābū. By the strength of his intelligence, he understood everything and he made a map of Navadvīpa-dhāma for me. This map was also published in Navadvīpa-dhāma-mahatmya.
“After having darśana of all the pastime places of Śrī Navadvīpa-dhāma, and after having writing about its importance and glories, I realized that there was nothing left for me to do.”
While residing in Krishnanagar, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura visited his birthplace Ulāgrāma in April. He then gave a discourse on dharma-tattva at the local school. When Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura met Śrīla Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja for a second time in 1887, Śrīla Bābājī Mahārāja gave him his Giridhārī-śilā to worship. This Giridhārī-śilā was worshiped in Bhakti-bhavana. In 1888, Śrī Bihārī dāsa Vrajavāsī brought Vaiṣṇava Sārvabhauma Śrīla Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja to Bhakti-bhavana while carrying him on his head. At that time, for the happiness of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, the resident of Bhāgnāpāḍā, Śrī Vipina-bihārī Gosvāmī, honored the water that had bathed the lotus feet of Śrīla Bābājī Mahārāja. The photograph of Śrīla Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja that was taken at that time is now worshiped everywhere.
Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura manifested Surabhi-kuñja in Godruma in the year 1888, and that same year, he visited the Sub Division of Myemensingh. While traveling to Myemensingh in a steamer, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura spoke hari-kathā to Rādhā-vallabha Chaudhary Mahāśaya and his brother (who were landlords of Serpura). He then reached Myemensingh from Nārāyaṇa-gāṅja.
Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura then started visiting the different places of “Gora-pāhāḍa” while seated on an elephant. By his mercy, the people of the Hājanga caste were attracted to the lotus feet of Śrīman Mahāprabhu.
Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura next made his auspicious arrival in Dhākā, where he resided in the home of Mahendranātha Mitra Mahāśaya. He spoke hari-kathā for two days in Navābpura Vasākdigera’s Hari-sabhā. Then, after visiting Nārāyaṇa-gāṅjā and Goyālacanda, he returned to Kolkata. From there, he then went to Tāngāil and arrived in Vardhamāna in September of 1889.
Together with Śrī Vimalā-prasāda, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura visited Śāntipura and Kālnā in March of 1890. This was just after he had established Surabhi-kuñja—on 16 March 1890, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura had arranged for a wonderful festival in Godruma to commemorate the appearance of Surabhi-kuñja.
Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura spoke hari-kathā in Bhagnapada on 26 March and reached Kālnā on 30 March. He visited the śrīpat of Śrī Nakula Brahmacārī (which is situated in Pyāri-gāṅja) on April 9th, went to Kaigrām Maṭha on April 23rd, and on April 25th, he arrived in Dhenuda to have darśana of Śrīla Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura’s śrīpat. On May 18th, he again visited Godruma, and the next day, on May 19th, he went to the bhajana-kuṭīra of Śrīla Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja in Kuliyā Navadvīpa After having Bābājī Mahārāja’s darśana, both of them spoke hari-kathā together. Previously, while residing in Krishnanagar, and with the intention of serving Śrīla Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura had a compound wall built around his place of bhajana.
On 18 October, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura spoke hari-kathā in Āmlājoḍā, a place within the district of Vardhamāna. He also spoke hari-kathā in Gopālapura (a place within the border of Āmlājoḍā), Rānīgañja, Varākara, and Durgāpura, and arranged for a festival of saṅkīrtana to be held in each of these places.
Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura visited Dinājpura again in 1890. This time, Rāma-sevaka Chaṭṭopādhyāya Bhakti-bṛṅga Mahāśaya and Śrī Vimala-prasāda were with him. Bhakti-bṛṅga Mahāśaya proceeded to Kolkata to publish Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa Prabhu’s commentary on the Bhagavad-gītā and Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s ‘Vidvat-rañjana’ commentary on the same scripture. Bhakti-bṛṅga Mahāśaya used to always discuss the purports of the scriptures with Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. He became the presiding chairman of the Navadvīpa-dhāma Pracāriṇī Sabhā and received the title ‘Bhakti-bṛṅga’ in this assembly.
Excerpted from the Bhakta Bandhav Publication: "Four Rūpānuga Vaiṣṇava Ācāryas of the Śrī Gauḍīya Sampradāya, Volume three, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākur"