1.

BIRNAGAR REKINDLED BY BRC

The once lost Birnagar, the legendary maternal house of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur is now
resurrected by BRC by the grace of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati
Thakur. Early 2013 BRC established a symbiotic relationship with the Bhaktivinod Gosthi, by
forming an eight devotee committee headed by Sri Bamsidas Babaji. Around April, the
committee members accorded with BRC allowing BRC to catalogue, scan and preserve their
entire collection of manuscripts. BRC Team has been working day-in and out to justify the
responsibility reposed upon themselves by the Bhaktivinod Gosthi. The on-going scanning and
lamination of the manuscripts has been regularly supervised and inspected by Sri Bamsidas
Babaji and other senior devotees. The manuscripts give a glimpse of the ancient Vaisnava
heritage we hail for and they constantly prove Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur to be the pioneer of the
Vaisnava progeny. The preservation and digitization will ensure that the glories of Srila
Bhaktivinod Thakur become immortal and is carried forward to and cherished by our future
generations.
BRIEF HISTORY: Ulagram (a name of Durga) later known as Birnagar is fifty minutes away from Sri
Dham Mayapur and ten minutes from Ranaghat. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakurs maternal great
grandfather, Sri Isvara Chandra Mitra, was extremely opulent, which is evident by a beautiful
temple complex constructed by him, comprising of a Durga Temple, a Kali Temple and ten Siva
Temples. That is why the place even now is referred to as Dva-dasa Mandir (12 temples). There
were several disputes on the entire property since Bhaktivinod Thakurs teenage days, and
eventually the family almost lost it. But decades later his seventh son Lalita Prasad Thakur
exhumed around 5 acres of the property including the temples and his fathers birth site, where
today lies a small Samadhi.

2. UNEARTHING THE TREASURE HOUSE OF VAISNAVA HERITAGE
BRC since over a decade has endeavored to fulfill Srila Prabhupadas desire of preserving Vedic
manuscripts. Struggle to achieve its aims and objectives, BRC has nonetheless successfully
scanned and preserved several ancient works of our previous Goswamis and stalwart devotees.
Very recently with the completion of scanning and lamination of the entire 6 volumes of Nadiya
Prakasa, which was a daily newsletter published under Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur
and his disciples, BRC has enabled scholars to access and relish the exquisite nectarean marvels
of Vaisnava Heritage. ***

3. MANUSCRIPT UPDATION
2013 has been a very promising and fruitful for BRC, in terms of materializing its objectives. Apart
from acquisition, cataloging, scanning and laminating manuscripts, BRC had 3 meetings with
the proprietary representative, Dr. Kamar, of the National Mission of Manuscripts. An official
endorsement of BRC from the National Mission of Manuscripts will ensure a certified support and
more effective expansion of Vaisnava Heritage.***
4. 2014 STRIKES A NEW DAWN AT BRC
With the relentless invaluable support from every nook and corner of the world, BRC now stands
as an exclusive research centre for scholars and a treasure house embellished with priceless
Vaisnava artifacts and manuscripts. During last year BRC refurbished its appearance and tools
for the betterment of both the researchers and the manuscripts. To cater to the needs of the
visiting scholars, devotees and visitors BRC now has an improved research and study area, with
well lit study sections. With a temperature controlled atmosphere, the manuscripts can breathe
and be preserved better. The rare artifacts and manuscripts are now further secured with the
tenacious and substantiated security system. Recently with overwhelming enthusiasm of Mr.
Madan Chand Shyamasukha, the entire building is being renovated, not only the exteriors but
the interiors too. It will add an aesthetic quotient to the entire ambience of BRC. ***

5. BRCS STATE-OF-THE-ART TRANSLATION AND PUBLICATION INITIATIVE
BRCs very recent initiative to set up a state of the art core translation and publication team,
resulted in inclusion of Radha Sakhi Dasi in the BRC family as the core translator and core
member of the publication team. Most of the manuscripts and artifacts are in Bengali, which has
inhibited the scholars and devotees who are not acquainted with Bengali to stay bereft of the
gem of Vaisnava works. In order to enable everyone to access and relish the artifacts and
manuscripts, the BRC Team planned to get its artifacts translated into English. To materialize that
dream, the entire BRC Team warmly embraced Radha Sakhi Dasi. Being young, inquisitive,
submission to Krishna Consciousness, bubbling with enthusiasm, eager to serve, with substantial
talent, experience and academic back-up, Radha Sakhi Dasi got an entry into BRC.
Radha Sakhi Dasi belongs to a Bengali Krishna Conscious family currently based in Nairobi,
Kenya and a menial disciple of HH Bhakti Caru Swami Maharaj. She completed her Graduation
in Journalism, specializing in Public Relations from Nairobi, Kenya. Imbibing the instructions of her
Spiritual Master and her inclination towards serving Lord Krishna drove her to serve the local
temples preaching initiatives and ISKCON Communications as well. Utilizing her communication
skills, she undertook various freelance projects in Nairobi, wrote news articles for ISKCON
Communications online site, successfully undertook various translation projects and now is a
dedicated translator at BRC. With her efforts BRC will soon be able to publish various exemplary
works of the stalwart Vaisnavas in line of Lord Caitanya, in English.




6. UNCONDITIONAL SUPPORTERS OF BRC
Out of sheer compassion and dedication towards Krishna Consciousness there are several
entities from different part of the world who willingly and unconditionally support BRC throughout
the year, through thick and thin. We would like to thank all of them for all their contributions.
LIST OF DIFFERENT DONORS-***

(CONTENT IF SANCTIONED I WILL PLACE IT ON A PUBLISHERS TEMPLATE AND PERFECT ITS
APPEARANCE)