The Caitanya movement, shows so many features of its own that it deserves a separate treatment." (Klaus K. Klostermaier; KKK)
LORD SRI CAITANYA MAHAPRABHU, the Great Avatara of love of God and the Father of introducing congregational chanting of the holy name of the Lord, advented Himself at Sridham Mayapur, a quarter in the city of Navadvipa in Bengal, on the Phalgoni Purnima evening in the year 1407 Shakabda (corresponding to Christian era 1486, 18th February).
The Gaudiya Vaisnavas accept Him to be the hidden Avatara of Kali-Yuga, a transcendental combination of Radha and Krsna, playing the role of a devotee, enjoying in the mood of Sri Radha the highest love of God.
"From the sixteenth century till today Gaudiya Vaisnavism has been a vigorous movement and a major presence in the Hindu religious scene. It succeeded to establish itself at the height of Mughal domination of India and its first representatives built large and beautiful temples in rediscovered Vrndavana. It survived the wrath of Aurangzeb and generated revival and resistance movements in nineteenth-century Bengal. The nineteenth-century Neo-Caitanya movement resulted in the establishment of Gaudiya mathas in most major cities in India. Caitanya bhaktas carried their message to Europe, America and Japan before World War II. In 1965 Swami Bhaktivedanta "Prabhupada" launched ISKCON ("International Society for Krishna Consciousness") in New York, from where it spread rapidly throughout many parts of the world." (KKK)
Because of this worldwide vigorous movement of the Gaudiya Lineage, we offer here a separate presentation of this branch of the Brahma-Sampradaya.