apart, an easy day’s walk for younger pil-
grims, yet manageable for the elderly.
Each chatti was maintained by a nearby
family, which would sell the pilgrims
wood and food grains and provide them
with cooking utensils. This arrangement
brought income to mountain families
during the pilgrimage season and freed
pilgrims to carry only their personal
belongings. The advent of paved roads
and bus transportation has largely ren-
dered this network obsolete, although it
survives in certain place names, such as
Janaki Chatti and Hanuman Chatti.
Chatuh-Sampradayi Nagas
Collective name for four groups (sam-
praday) of militant (Naga) ascetics who
are all devotees (bhakta) of the god
Vishnu. They all trace their spiritual lin-
eage to a different Vaishnavareligious
community, each of which is connected
with a major Vaishnava figure. By far the
most populous and powerful of these
groups is the Shri sampradayof the
Ramanandi ascetics, which traces its
descent through the poet-saint
Ramananda to the southern Indian
philosopher Ramanuja, whom they
claim as Ramananda’s guru. The Sanaka
sampraday of the Nimbarki ascetics
traces its spiritual lineage to the philoso-
pher Nimbarka. The Rudra sampraday
of the Vishnuswamiascetics traces its
lineage through the philosopher
Vallabhacharya to an earlier figure,
Vishnuswami. Finally, the Brahma sam-
praday of the Gaudiya Vaishnava
ascetics traces its spiritual line through
the Bengali saint Chaitanya to the
southern Indian philosopher Madhva.
Each of these sampradays is differentiated
not only by its founder but also by its
patron deityor deities. The Ramanandis
worship the god Rama, whereas the
others worship the god Krishnaand, to
different extents, his consort,Radha.
Scholars doubt that these groups
were ever actually connected to the peo-
ple whom they claim as their founders.
The distinctions among the sampradays
appear to be largely academic. Given
that the overwhelming majority of these
ascetics are Ramanandis, the others
seem important only for representing
the other great Vaishnava religious fig-
ures. The distinctions between groups
are only significant during the bathing
(snana) festival known as the Kumbha
Mela, at which they determine the order
of certain groups in the bathing proces-
sions. For more information see Peter
van der Veer, Gods on Earth, 1988.Chaturbhujdas
(late 16th c.) One of the ashtachap, a
group of eight northern Indian bhakti
(devotional) poets. The compositions of
these eight poets were used for liturgical
purposes by the Pushti Marg, a religious
community whose members are devo-
tees (bhakta) of Krishna. In the Pushti
Marg’s sectarian literature, all eight are
named as members of the community
and as associates of either its founder,
Vallabhacharya, or his successor,
Vitthalnath. Chaturbhujdas is claimed
as an associate of Vitthalnath—an idea
supported by references in his poetry—
and is also said to be the son of
Kumbhadas, one of the earlier ash-
tachap poets. In his poetry Chatur-
bhujdas presents himself as a companion
to Krishna and his consort, Radha, giv-
ing latter-day devotees a picture of their
daily routine.Chaturmas Vrat
A period of time spanning four lunar
months, beginning on the festival of
Devshayani Ekadashi( June–July) and
ending on the festival of Devotthayan
Ekadashi (October–November). The
four months in between these festivals
are considered ritually inauspicious,
since during that time the god Vishnuis
considered to be sleeping, and the pro-
tective power in the universe is less
attentive. Thus people generally do not
perform auspicious life cycle rites such
as weddings during this period. This
time also coincides with the coming of
the monsoon, which is essential forChaturmas Vrat