Caitanya Mahaprabhu (also spelled Chaitanya) was an ascetic Hindu monk and social reformer in 16th century India (present-day Bangladesh). He was later deified and is thought by some Hindu denominations to be an avatar of Vishnu. Founder of the bhakti yoga movement (also known today as the Hare Krishna movement), his spiritual mission was to clean the effects of desire from the Temples of India by leading joyous pilgrims throughout the land singing, dancing, and chanting.

Caitanya's movement reached the Western world four centuries later in 1965, when Prabhupada A.C. Bhaktivedanta landed by freighter in New York harbor and founded ISKCON the following year.

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