Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

18 February 1486 – 14 June 1533

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was a 15th-16th century Bengali Hindu saint and the founder of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, a devotional tradition centered on ecstatic worship of Krishna. Born in Nabadwip, Bengal, he popularized sankirtan, the congregational chanting of Krishna's names, and spent his later life in Puri, Odisha. His movement profoundly shaped Vaishnavism in eastern India and is the root of the modern Hare Krishna movement.

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Life events

Born in Nabadwip, Bengal
18 February 1486

Chaitanya was born as Vishvambhara Mishra in Nabadwip on the full-moon evening of 18 February 1486, during a lunar eclipse according to tradition.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Birth ✓
Studied Sanskrit and logic in Nabadwip
c. 1501

As a young man he mastered Sanskrit grammar and logic in the scholarly town of Nabadwip and ran his own school.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Education ✓
Initiated by Ishvara Puri at Gaya
1508

While visiting Gaya to perform rites for his deceased father, Chaitanya received initiation from the ascetic Ishvara Puri and underwent a profound religious transformation.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Led the sankirtan movement in Nabadwip
c. 1509

Chaitanya began leading public congregational chanting of Krishna's names through the streets of Nabadwip, drawing large followings.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Took sannyasa from Keshava Bharati
1510

At the age of 24 Chaitanya renounced household life and was initiated into the renounced order by Keshava Bharati at Katwa.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Personal ✓
Pilgrimage tour of South India
1510 – 1512

After taking sannyasa, Chaitanya undertook an extended pilgrimage through South India, visiting temples and spreading Krishna devotion.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Settled in Puri, Odisha
c. 1516

Chaitanya made the temple town of Puri his permanent residence, spending his final decades there near the Jagannath temple.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Established the foundations of Gaudiya Vaishnavism
c. 1520

Through his teaching and his deputation of followers such as the Six Goswamis to Vrindavan, Chaitanya founded the Gaudiya Vaishnava devotional tradition.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Died in Puri
14 June 1533

Chaitanya died in Puri in 1533; the exact circumstances of his death remain uncertain and are the subject of differing traditional accounts.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Death ✓