The Gaudiya Math (, ; ) is a

Gaudiya Vaishnava 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 (present-day Malda dist ...

matha A ''matha'' (; , ), also written as ''math'', ''muth'', ''mutth'', ''mutt'', or ''mut'', is a Sanskrit word that means 'institute or college', and it also refers to a monastery in Hinduism.

'' (monastic organisation) formed on 6 September 1920,Devamayī dāsi, "A Divine Life: Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda" in ''Prabhupada Saraswati Thakur: The Life & Precepts of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī,'' Mandala Publishing, Eugene, Oregon: 1997, pp. 24, 26, 49. . p. 130. about 30 months after

Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati (; ; ; 6 February 1874 – 1 January 1937), born Bimala Prasad Datt (, ), was an Indian Gaudīya Vaisnava Hindu guru (spiritual master), ācārya (philosophy instructor), and revivalist in early twentieth-century Ind ...

took ''

sannyasa ''Sannyasa'' (), sometimes spelled ''sanyasa'', is the fourth stage within the Hinduism, Hindu system of four life stages known as ''ashrama (stage), ashramas'', the first three being ''brahmacharya'' (celibate student), ''Gṛhastha, grihast ...

'', the renounced order of life. On 7 March 1918, the same day he took ''sannyasa,'' he established the Sri Chaitanya Math in

Mayapura Mayapur () is a Human settlement, human settlement and pilgrimage town in the Nabadwip (community development block), Nabadwip Community development block, CD block in the Krishnanagar Sadar subdivision of the Nadia district, West Bengal, India ...

in West Bengal, later recognised as the parent body of all the Gaudiya Math branches. Its purpose was to spread

Gaudiya Vaishnavism Gaudiya Vaishnavism (), also known as Chaitanya Vaishnavism, is a Vaishnavism, Vaishnava Hindu denominations, Hindu religious movement inspired by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1534) in India. "Gaudiya" refers to the Gaura or Gauḍa region o ...

, the philosophy of the medieval

Vaisnava Vaishnavism () ), also called Vishnuism, is one of the major Hindu traditions, that considers Vishnu as the sole supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, that is, ''Mahavishnu''. It is one of the major Hindu denominations along with S ...

saint

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (; ), born Vishvambhara Mishra () (18 February 1486 – 14 June 1534), was an Indian Hindus, Hindu saint from Bengal and the founder of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's mode of worshipping Krishna with bha ...

, through preaching and

publishing Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

. From the beginning of Chaitanya's

bhakti movement The Bhakti movement was a significant religious movement in medieval Hinduism that sought to bring religious reforms to all strata of society by adopting the method of Bhakti, devotion to achieve salvation. Originating in Tamilakam during 6t ...

in Bengal, devotees, including

Haridasa Thakur Haridasa Thakur (, born 1451 or 1450) 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 Gosw ...

and others, whether

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

by birth, have been participants. This openness and disregard for the traditional caste received a boost from the "broad-minded vision" of

Bhaktivinoda Thakura Bhaktivinoda Thakur (, ) (2 September 1838 – 23 June 1914), born Kedarnath Datta (, ), was an Indian Hindu philosopher, guru and spiritual reformer of Gaudiya Vaishnavism who effected its resurgence in India in late 19th and early 20th centur ...

, a nineteenth-century magistrate and prolific writer on ''bhakti'' topics, and was institutionalised by his son and successor Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura in the twentieth-century Gaudiya Math.

Branches

The Gaudiya Math had established 64 branches. Most were in India, but preaching centres were maintained for a time in

British Burma British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and cultur ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The first European preaching center was established in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1933 (London Glouster House, Cornwall Garden, W7 South Kensington) under the name Gaudiya Mission Society of London'. Lord Zetland, the English Secretary of State, was the president of this society. The second European preaching center was opened by Swami B.H. Bon Maharaj in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

(W30 Eisenacherstr. 29).

History

Soon after the Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati's death (1 January 1937), a dispute began and the original Gaudiya Math mission divided by the court in 1948 into two administrative bodies which continued preaching on their own, up to the present day. In a settlement they divided the 64 Gaudiya Math centers into two groups. Sri Chaitanya Math Branch were headed by Srila Bhakti Vilasa Tirtha Maharaj.

Gaudiya Mission The Gaudiya Mission () is a Gaudiya Vaishnava monastic and missionary organization. The organisation has been registered since March 1940 in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) under the supervision of the then acharya, Ananta Vasudev ( Srila Acharyad ...

were headed by Ananta Vasudev Prabhu, who became known as Srila Bhakti Prasad Puri Maharaj after accepting

for short duration. p. 89. Many of the disciples of

did not agree with the spirit of these newly created two fractions, or were simply inspired to expand the mission of their guru on their own enthusiasm, started their own missions. Many of these autonomous missions are still known as Gaudiya Math. Some of the other notable new missions are: * Sri Gaudiya Vedanta Samiti established by

Bhakti Prajnan Keshava Bhakti Prajnan Keshava (; 9 February 1898 – 6 October 1968), addressed by the honorific Mahārāja (), was a Gaudiya Vaishnava guru, disciple of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati and the founder-acharya of the religious organisation "Sri Gaudiya Ve ...

Maharaj and

Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar (; 10 October 1895 – 12 August 1988) was an Indian guru, writer, sannyasi and spiritual leader in the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, founder-president-acharya of the Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. ...

Goswami Maharaj (1940) * Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math established by

Maharaj (1941) * established by Srila Bhakti Dayita Madhav Goswami Maharaj (1953) *

International Society for Krishna Consciousness The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), commonly known as the Hare Krishna movement, is a religious organization that follows the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism. It was founded on 13 July 1966 in New York City by ...

established by

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (; ) (1 September 1896 – 14 November 1977) was a spiritual, philosophical, and religious teacher from India who spread the Hare Krishna mantra and the teachings of "Krishna consciousness" ...

(1966) * established by Srila Bhakti Vaibhava Puri Goswami Maharaj (1966) *

Science of Identity Foundation The Science of Identity Foundation (SIF) is a new religious movement started in the 1970s. It was founded by Chris Butler after he broke from the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. It is based in the US state of Hawaii. Its theolo ...

established by Siddhaswarupananda Paramahamsa (1977) * Sri Sri Radha Govindaji Trust established by Srila

Bhakti Hridaya Bon Bhakti Hridaya Bon (, ), also known as Swami Bon ( Baharpur, 23 March 1901 – Vrindavan, 7 July 1982), was a disciple of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati and a guru in the Gaudiya Math following the philosophy of bhakti, specifically that of Caita ...

(1979) * Sri Caitanya Sangha, a.k.a. Gaudiya Vaishnavite Society, established by Tripurari Swami (1985) * established by Srila Bhakti Pramode Puri Goswami Maharaj (1989) Some are very large missions, and some are smaller branches started by individual Vaishnavas. What they hold in common is that they are autonomous branches of the tree of the Gaudiya Math. Almost all of them have published books and periodicals and opened one or more temples. There is little cooperation among these missions. Nevertheless, in 1994 many of them formed united the World Vaisnava Association — Visva Vaisnava Raj Sabha (WVA–VVRS).

References and notes

{{Authority control Gaudiya Vaishnavism Hindu organizations Hindu religious orders Hindu monasteries in India Hindu new religious movements Hindu organisations based in India Hinduism in Kolkata Nadia district Organisations based in Kolkata Religious organizations established in 1920 1920 establishments in British India