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Caitanya Mahaprabhu (also spelled Chaitanya) (1486 - 1534) was an ascetic Hindu monk and social reformer in 16th century Bengal, India (present-day West Bengal and Bangladesh). A great proponent of loving devotion for God, bhakti yoga, Chaitanya worshiped the Lord in the form of Krishna. Many Vaishnav followers' revere him as an incarnation or avatar of Krishna himself. He was also known as Gaura (fair one) due to his light, and in Hindu conceptions, shining and golden hue. Chaitanya's biography is recorded in the "Shri Chaitanya Charitamrita" scripture, written in the Bengali language.
After leaving his homeland in Bengal and becoming an ascetic, Chaitanya journeyed throughout the length and breadth of India for three years, chanting the names of Krishna constantly while wandering from place to place. It was he who first sang and made popular the Hindu mantra "Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare!" Chaitanya lived the last 28 years of his life at Puri in Orissa, the great temple city of Jagannatha Juggernaut. The king of Orissa, Maharaja Prataparudradeva, regarded him as Krishna incarnate and was an enthusiastic patron and devotee of the religion of Sri Chaitanya. Chaitanya's spiritual mission was to inspire pilgrims and send them wandering throughout the land in joyous groups singing, dancing, and chanting Krishna's names.
In the 20th century, the teachings of Sri Chaitanya were brought to the West and became established in many cities. In 1965, Prabhupada A.C. Bhaktivedanta landed by freighter in Boston harbor and founded the Hare Krishna Movement of ISKCON in the following year in New York. Gurus from several other Hindu sects which revere Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, including devotees from the major Vaishnav holy places in Mathura District, West Bengal and Orissa, also established temples dedicated to Krishna and Sri Chaitanya outside India in the closing decades of the 20th century.
pl:Ćajtanja Mahaprabhu
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