Gaudiya Vaishnavism, also known as Chaitanya Vaishnavism, is a Vaishnava Hindu religious movement inspired by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1534) in India. "Gaudiya" refers to the Gaura or Gauḍa region of Bengal, with Vaishnavism meaning "the worship of Vishnu". Specifically, it is part of Krishnaism–Krishna-centric Vaishnavite traditions.
Jagadguru Swami Ramananda or Ramanandacharya was an Indian 14th-century Hindu Vaishnava devotional poet saint, who lived in the Gangetic basin of northern India. The Hindu tradition recognizes him as the founder of the Ramanandi Sampradaya, the largest monastic Hindu renunciant community in modern times.
Baladeva Vidyabhushana was an Indian Gaudiya Vaishnava acharya.
Udasis, also spelt as Udasins, also known as Nanak Putras, are a religious sect of ascetic sadhus centred in northern India who follow a tradition known as Udasipanth. Becoming custodians of Sikh shrines in the 18th century, they were notable interpreters and spreaders of the Sikh philosophy during that time. However, their religious practices border on a syncretism of Sikhism and Hinduism, and they did not conform to the Khalsa standards as ordained by Guru Gobind Singh. When the Lahore Singh Sabha reformers, dominated by Tat Khalsa Sikhs, would hold them responsible for indulging in ritual practices antithetical to Sikhism, as well as personal vices and corruption, the Udasi mahants were expelled from the Sikh shrines.
Dadu Dayal was a poet-saint religious reformer who spoke against formalism and priestcraft and was active in Rajasthan.
The Ramanandi, also known as Ramavats, is one of the largest sects of Vaishnavas. Out of 52 sub-branches of Vaishnavism, divided into four Vaishnava sampradayas, 36 are held by the Ramanandi. The sect mainly emphasizes the worship of Rama, Sita, Hanuman, and the avatars of Vishnu. They consider Rama and Sita as the Supreme Absolute who are not different from each other. It is considered to have been founded by Ramananda, a 14th-century Vaishnava saint.
Radha-Krishna is the combined form of the Hindu god Krishna with his chief consort and shakti Radha. They are regarded as the feminine as well as the masculine realities of God, in several Krishnaite traditions of Vaishnavism.
Vaishnavism is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the sole supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, that is, Mahavishnu. Its followers are called Vaishnavites or Vaishnavas, and it includes sub-sects like Krishnaism and Ramaism, which consider Krishna and Rama as the supreme beings respectively. According to a 2020 estimate by The World Religion Database (WRD), hosted at Boston University’s Institute on Culture, Religion and World Affairs (CURA), Vaishnavism is the largest Hindu sect, constituting about 399 million Hindus.
Hanuman Garhi Temple is a Hindu temple of Hanuman in Uttar Pradesh, India. Located in Ayodhya, it is one of the most important temples in the city along with other temples such as Ram Mandir and Nageshwar Nath. This shrine is under the charge of Bairagi Mahants of Ramanandi Sampradaya and Nirvani Akhara.
Galtaji is an ancient Hindu pilgrimage about 10 km away from Jaipur, in the Indian state of Rajasthan. The site consists of a series of temples built into a narrow crevice in the ring of hills that surrounds Jaipur. A natural spring emerges high on the hill and flows downward, filling a series of sacred kunds in which pilgrims bathe. Visitors and pilgrims can ascend the crevasse, continuing past the highest water pool to a hilltop temple from there are views of Jaipur and its fortifications spreads out across the valley floor. It is believed that a Saint named Galav lived here, practiced meditation, and did penance (tapasya).
Sri Vaishnavism is a denomination within the Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism, predominantly practiced in South India. The name refers to goddess Lakshmi, as well as a prefix that means "sacred, revered", and the god Vishnu, who are together revered in this tradition.
Akhara or Akhada is an Indian word for a place of practice with facilities for boarding, lodging and training, both in the context of Indian martial artists or a sampradaya monastery for religious renunciates in Guru–shishya tradition. For example, in the context of the Dashanami Sampradaya sect, the word denotes both martial arts and religious monastic aspects of the trident-wielding martial regiment of the renouncing sadhus.
The Akhil Bharatiya Akhara ParishadABAP, one of the organizations of Hindu sants (saints) and sadhus (ascetics) in India. The ABAP is composed of 14 akharas, or organisations of Hindu sants and sadhus. Nirmohi Akhara and Shri Dattatreya Akhara are two of the prominent akharas which are part of it.
Hindu denominations, sampradayas, traditions, movements, and sects are traditions and sub-traditions within Hinduism centered on one or more gods or goddesses, such as Vishnu, Shiva, Shakti and so on. The term sampradaya is used for branches with a particular founder-guru with a particular philosophy.
Ukhra Nimbarka Peeth Mahanta Asthal is a 250-year-old Mutt of the Nimbarka Vaishnava Sampradaya. It is situated at Ukhra in the district of Purba Bardhaman, in the state of West Bengal, India near the city of Durgapur. This Mutt has been closely associated with the Zamindars of Ukhra, the Handa family, and has served as the spiritual beacon of the area. Since its foundation this Mutt has propagated Vaishnavism of the Nimbarka Sampradaya far and wide in the area and gained many important personalities as adherents of its philosophy.
Ujjain Simhastha is a Hindu religious mela held every 12 years in the Ujjain city of Madhya Pradesh, India. The name is also transliterated as Sinhastha or Singhastha. In Hindi, the fair is also called Simhasth or Sinhasth. The name derives from the fact that it is held when the Jupiter is in Leo.
Vairagi is a Hindu Sect who follow Vaishnavism. Celibate Ascetics of Vaishnav Sampradaya are called Vairagi or Bairagi.
Krishnadas Payahari, also known as Payahari Baba was a Ramanandi Hindu saint and disciple of Anantananda, one of the twelve disciple of Ramananda. Krishnadas Payohari was the founder and first Mahant of Gaddi of Galtaji dham, Jaipur. He came to Galta early in the 16th century. He was the guru of Prithvi Singh, ruler of Amber (Jaipur) and his wife Apurva Devi. He was also guru of Raja Jagat Singh of Kullu.
Andhra Vaishnavas is a Brahmin community in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana who follow Ramanuja Vishishtadvaita Vedanta Darshana and profess Sri Vaishnavism.
Thakurdwara Bhagwan Narainji is a historical Hindu temple belonging to Ramanandi Sampradaya, located in the village Pandori Mahantan in Gurdaspur district of Punjab in India. It constitutes one of the fifty-two Vaishnav dvaras of Indian subcontinent into which Bairagis have been organized. The shrine was founded by Ramanandi saint Shri Bhagwanji and his disciple ShriNarainji after whom the shrine has been name.The temple is known for its spectacular Baisakhi fair.
