International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), commonly referred to as the Hare Krishna movement, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava Hindu religious organization. It was founded by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on 13 July 1966 in New York City. ISKCON's main headquarters is in Mayapur, West Bengal, India and it claims approximately 1 million members globally.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, born Vishvambhara Mishra, was an Indian Hindu saint from Bengal and the founder of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's mode of worshipping Krishna with bhajan-kirtan and dance had a profound effect on Vaishnavism in Bengal.
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.
Narottama Dasa Thakura, also known as Thakura Mahasaya, was a Gaudiya Vaishnava saint who spread Vaishnava bhakti throughout Odisha, in Bengal, and elsewhere in India. Narottama Dasa was the son of King Krishnananda Datta and Narayani Devi, who resided in Gopalpur Pargana of the modern-day Rajshahi district of Bangladesh. According to some scriptues, after the death of his father he entrusted his royal duties to the eldest son of his paternal uncle and left for Vrindavana.
Mayapur is a neighbourhood of Bamanpukur, in the Nabadwip CD block in the Krishnanagar Sadar subdivision of the Nadia district, West Bengal, India. It's situated at the confluence of the Jalangi River and the Bhagirathi, a tributary of the Ganges. The area is considered spiritually significant by followers of Gaudiya Vaishnavism.
Rupa Goswami was a devotional teacher (guru), poet, and philosopher of the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition. With his brother Sanatana Goswami, he is considered the most senior of the Six Goswamis of Vrindavan associated with Caitanya Mahaprabhu, a hidden avatar (incarnation) of Krishna in Kali Yuga.
Sanatana Goswami was a principal follower of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Sanatana wrote a number of works in the bhakti tradition of Gaudiya Vaishnavism and was the senior most of the influential Six Goswamis of Vrindavan, among whom was his brother Rupa Goswami.
Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata is a hagiography of Caitanya Mahāprabhu written by Vrindavana Dasa Thakura. It was the first full-length work regarding Chaitanya Mahaprabhu written in Bengali language and documents his early life and role as the founder of the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition. The text details Chaitanya's theological position as a combined Avatar of both Radha and Krishna within the belief of his close associates and followers. The writing of Chaitanya Bhagavata was commissioned by Nityananda, who was the guru of Vrindavana Dasa Thakura and close friend of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
The Kali-Santarana Upanishad, also called Kalisantaraṇopaniṣad, is a Sanskrit text. It is a minor Upanishad of Hinduism.
Krishnaism is a term used in scholarly circles to describe large group of independent Hindu traditions—sampradayas related to Vaishnavism—that center on the devotion to Krishna as Svayam Bhagavan, Ishvara, Para Brahman, who is the source of all reality, not simply an avatar of Vishnu. This is its difference from such Vaishnavite groupings as Sri Vaishnavism, Sadh Vaishnavism, Ramaism, Radhaism, Sitaism etc. There is also a personal Krishnaism, that is devotion to Krishna outside of any tradition and community, as in the case of the saint-poet Meera Bai. Leading scholars do not define Krishnaism as a suborder or offshoot of Vaishnavism, considering it at least a parallel and no less ancient current of Hinduism.
Madhavendra Puri was a 15th century Vaishnava ascetic who was an early figure in the rediscovery of Braj.
Haridasa Thakur was a Vaishnava saint known for playing a part in the initial propagation of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. He is considered to be a known convert of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, along with Rupa Goswami and Sanatana Goswami. His story of integrity and faith in the face of adversity is told in the Chaitanya Charitamrita. It is believed that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu himself designated Haridasa as nāmācarya, meaning the 'teacher of the Name'. Haridasa Thakura was a devotee of the deity Krishna, and is regarded to have practised the chant of his veneration, the Hare Krishna mantra, 300,000 times daily.
Śrinivāsa Ācārya Ṭhākura was a famous Vaishnava guru, the pupil of Jiva Gosvamin and teacher of Yadunandana dasa and Radhavallabha dasa, among others. He converted King Bir Hambir to Vaishnava. His daughter, Hemalata Thakurani, was also a guru.
Gaurakisora Dasa Babaji is a well-known acharya from the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism, and is regarded as a Mahatma or saint by followers of his lineage. During his lifetime Gaurakisora Dasa Babaji became famous for his teachings on the process of Bhakti Yoga and for his unorthodox avadhuta like behaviour as a sadhu, or babaji in Vrindavan.
Bijoy Krishna Goswami, also known by the honorific Gosaiji, was a Hindu social reformer and religious figure in India during the British period.
Mahanambrata Brahmachari was a Hindu Monk and the President who headed the Mahanam Sampradaya in what is now India and Bangladesh. A yogi and monk of the Mahauddharana order, a school of Bengal, he was a philosopher, writer and religious master.
Sri Angan also known as Shree Angon is an Ashram set up by Prabhu Jagadbandhu the founder of the Mahanam Sampradaya in Faridpur, Bengal Presidency, British India in 1899 C.E. This ashram is the headquarters of the Mahanam Sampraday in Bangladesh. During the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 the Pakistani Army killed 8 monks in the Ashram during the Sree Angan massacre while they were praying and damaged the ashram. Janmastami is celebrated with great religious fervour every year. A procession in honour of the Hindu God Krishna is taken through the town.
Sree Angan massacre refers to the massacre of 8 Bengali Hindu sanyasis of Sri Angan monastery by the occupying Pakistani army in Faridpur, East Pakistan on 21 April 1971. Eight sannyasis were killed by the Pakistan Army in the massacre.
Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha was a disciple of Bhakti Dayita Madhava and an acharya and initiating spiritual master in the Gaudiya Math following the philosophy of the Bhakti marg, specifically of Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Gaudiya Vaishnava theology. He was the President Acharya of Sree Chaitanya Gaudiya Math, headquartered at Kolkata, West Bengal, India and having more than 22 branches in India. He was president of the World Vaisnava Association and founder of GOKUL.
Mahanam Sampradaya is a monastic organisation founded in the last decade of the 19th century within Hinduism in the Bengal Presidency of colonial British India and spiritually inspired by Prabhu Jagadbandhu. As the tradition-sampradaya is also known as a Krishnaite institution and it was formed in the early 20th century by Sripad Mahendraji. Presently followers of Mahanam Sampradaya are centered in both India and Bangladesh. Radha Krishna, Gaur Nitai and Prabhu Jagadbandhu are the chief deities worshiped by the Mahanam Sampradaya.
