Sri Gaura Purnima is the auspicious Appearance Day of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (who is also known as Gauranga due to His golden complexion), and this year ISKCON is celebrating the 532nd anniversary of His Appearance on Mar.2. This festival also marks the beginning of the New Year for Gaudiya Vaishnavas.

The Supreme Lord Sri Krishna appeared as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to establish Sankirtana (chanting of the Holy Names) — the Yuga Dharma for this age of Kali. He appeared on PhalguniPurnima, the full moon day in the month of Phalguna (Feb-March) in the year 1486 AD (1407 Shakabda) at Sridham Mayapura as the son of Sri Jagannath Mishra and Srimati Sachidevi. His parents named him Nimai since he was born under a nimba (neem) tree in the courtyard of His paternal house. His Appearance Day is celebrated as Gaura Purnima.

Celebrations at ISKCON Mysuru

The celebration begins in the evening with a pallakki utsava of Sri Nitai Gauranga (Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Lord Nityananda). The utsava deities are taken out in a procession in a pallakki bedecked with flowers. Devotees perform mahasankirtana to please the Supreme Lord. As everyone joins in the sankirtana, the Hare Krishna maha mantra resounds in every corner of the temple.

After the procession, the Deities of Nitai Gauranga receive a grand abhisheka. Their Lordships are first bathed with panchamrita and then with panchagavya followed by various fruit juices. Devotees chant prayers from the Brahma-samhita, glorifying the Lord. A grand arati is performed to the accompaniment of the Gaura Arati song composed by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. After the arati, the Deities are bathed with sanctified water from 108 kalashas while the devotees chant the Purusha Sukta prayers. Their Lordships then receive pushpavrishti (showering of flowers) and a special offering of 56 dishes (chappanbhog).

Next follows a drama depicting the glorious pastimes of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu with the Odisa King Prataparudra, enacted by the ISKCON Mysuru youth ensemble.

The programme concludes with a shayanaarati when all the assembled devotees glorify Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu by singing Sri Sachitanaya Ashtakam that describes His transcendental form, qualities and activities.

On this day, devotees fast till moonrise and break their fast by taking anukalpa feast (made from non-grains). On the following day, they offer a special feast to the Lord which is called Jagannath Mishra Feast, named after Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s father, who arranged a grand feast to celebrate the birth of his son.

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is none other than Supreme Lord Sri Krishna, who appeared in this Kali-yuga to inaugurate the yuga dharma for this age — Sankirtana, the congregational chanting of the Holy Names of the Lord.

His Appearance

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared at Sridhama Mayapura, in the city of Navadvipa in Bengal, on the Phalguni Purnima evening in the year 1486 AD. His father, Sri Jagannatha Mishra, a learned brahmana from the district of Sylhet, came to Navadvipa as a student. He lived on the banks of the Ganges with his wife Srimati Sachidevi, the daughter of Srila Nilambara Chakravarty, a great learned scholar of Navadvipa. Their youngest son, who was named Vishvambhara, later became known as Nimai Pandita and then, after accepting the renounced order of life, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

His Teachings

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu preached the Srimad-Bhagavatam and propagated the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita in the most practical way.

The essence of His teachings is recorded in Chaitanya Manjusha as follows:

• Lord Sri Krishna, who appeared as the son of the King of Vraja (Nanda Maharaja), is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and is worshipable by all.
• Vrindavana-dhama is non-different from the Lord and hence is as worshipable as the Lord.
• The highest form of transcendental worship of the Lord was exhibited by the damsels of Vrajabhumi.
• Srimad-Bhagavata Purana is the spotless literature for understanding the Lord.
• The ultimate goal of human life is to attain the stage of prema, or love of God.

His instructions to Srila Rupa Gosvami and Srila Sanatana Gosvami, His discussions with Ramananda Raya, the debate with the Mayavadisannyasi Prakashananda Sarasvati and the Vedanta Sutra, the discussion between Him and Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya are excellent sources through which we understand His teachings         in detail.

The Lord left only eight slokas of His instructions in writing, and they are known as the Siksastaka. All other literatures based on His teachings were extensively written by the Lord’s principal followers, the six Gosvamis of Vrindavana, and their followers.

His Mission — The Universal Religion

His mission was to preach the importance of chanting the holy names of the Lord in this age of Kali (quarrel). In this present age quarrels take place even over trifles, and therefore the shastras have recommended for this age a common platform for realisation, namely chanting the holy names of the Lord. People can hold meetings to glorify the Lord in their respective languages and with melodious songs, and if such performances are executed in an offenseless manner, it is certain that the participants will gradually attain spiritual perfection without having to undergo more rigorous methods.

At such meetings everyone, the learned and the foolish, the rich and the poor, the Hindus and the Muslims, the Englishmen and the Indians, and the chandalas and the brahmanas, can all hear the transcendental sounds and thus cleanse the dust of material association from the mirror of the heart. To confirm the Lord’s mission, all the people of the world will accept the holy name of the Lord as the common    platform for the universal religion of mankind.

—Sripathi Dasa, ISKCON Mysuru