share in the gopis’ intimate relationship
with Krishna.
In 1510 Vishvambar formally became
an ascetic, taking the name Krishna
Chaitanya, and for the rest of his life
propagated the worship of Krishna. For
much of that time, he resided in the
sacred city of Puri. This was reportedly
in deference to his mother, since she felt
that Krishna’s childhood home,
Brindavan, was too far away. Despite his
mother’s wishes, Chaitanya did take sev-
eral lengthy trips: a two-year tour of the
holy places in southern India between
1510 and 1512, and in 1514, a trip to
Brindavan, in which Chaitanya had fre-
quent mystical experiences. After his
return to Puri, he met the brothers Rupa
and Sanatana Goswami. Chaitanya
directed them to settle in Brindavan and
re-establish the holy sites associated
with Krishna’s life. Driven by Chaitanya’s
charisma and ecstatic devotion, Rupa,
Sanatana, and their nephew Jiva
Goswamibecame pivotal figures in the
development of the Gaudiya Vaishnava
school. While Chaitanya was absorbed
in his devotion to Krishna until his
death, Rupa, Santana, and Jiva Goswami
gave this devotion a systematic organi-
zation. For further information see
Sushil Kumar De, Early History of the
Vaishnava Faith and Movement in
Bengal, 1961; and Janardana
Chakravarti, Bengal Vaishnavism and Sri
Chaitanya, 1975.
Chaitanya-Charitramrta
(“nectar of Chaitanya’sdeeds”) A name
shared by at least three separate texts, all
devoted to recounting the life of the
Bengali saint Chaitanya (1486–1533).
The earliest was written by Murari
Gupta, an associate of Chaitanya. Most
of this text focuses on Chaitanya’s early
life up to his southern Indian pilgrimage
ending in 1513, but it also briefly men-
tions his pilgrimage to the town of
Brindavanin 1514 and his final return
to the sacred city of Puri, in which he
lived until his death. The second
account was written nine years after
Chaitanya’s death by Kavikarnapura,
who freely acknowledged his debt to
Murari Gupta. The final account was
written by Krishnadas Kavirajabout
ninety years after Chaitanya’s death.
Kaviraj’s account focuses mainly on
Chaitanya’s later life, particularly his
time in Brindavan. This last version is
marked by the philosophical influ-
ence of Chaitanya’s most important
disciples, the Goswamis (Rupa Goswami,
Sanatana Goswami, and Jiva Goswami),
whose ideas were a major influence
in shaping the Gaudiya Vaishnava
religious community. None of these
texts gives an “objective” biography;
the works are hagiographies written
by passionate devotees (bhakta). See
also philosophy.Chaitra
According to the lunar calendar, by
which most Hindu religious festivals are
determined, Chaitra is the month in
which the lunar yearboth begins (dur-
ing the two weeks of the bright or wax-
ing, half of the moon) and ends (during
the two weeks of the dark, or waning,
half of the moon, which precedes the
bright half ). Thus, the waning half of
Chaitra ends one lunar year, while the
waxing half that follows it begins the
next lunar year. This month usually falls
within March and April. This is one of
the months of spring, and in northern
India the weather is warm and pleasant
at this time. The major festivals in
Chaitra are Papamochani Ekadashi, the
spring Navaratri, Ram Navami,
Kamada Ekadashi, Hanuman Jayanti,
and in Tamil Nadu, the Chittiraifestival.Chaitya
(“place of worship”) A rock-cut cave
temple. This architectural form is closely
associated with Indian Buddhism but
was also used in early Hindu temple
architecture. The earliest chaityas were
simple caves, but these grew more elab-
orate as the form developed. In its later
stages, the builders would not only cutChaitanya-Charitramrta