Gaura Jayanti

Gaura Purnima is a Gaudiya Vaishanva festival that celebrates the divine appearance of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu in Navadwipa, India. Gaura Purnima means “Golden Full Moon”. The name signifies that Lord Caitanya took birth at time of full moon and He blesses everyone with the moonlike rays of His teachings.

527th appearance of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was celebrated on 27th March 2013. Lord Chaitanya, an incarnation of Lord Krishna, appeared in 1486 C.E. in Mayapur, West Bengal. Lord Chaitanya is very merciful, the plight of the people of this material world pains Him the most and so He incarnated to deliver all the suffering souls. He propagated the congregational chanting of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra which cleanses people’s heart of all misgivings, helps them to develop genuine love for Krishna and get freedom from all the sufferings. The suffering souls soon realizes that real happiness is in living in harmony with Krishna and so they endeavour to return back to the spiritual world to live joyfully with Krishna.

For Gaudiya – Vaisnavas, Gaur Purnima is one of the most important festivals and they celebrate it with pomp and gaiety. On Gaura – Purnima day, hundreds of devotees congregated at 4:30 a.m. in the temple to participate in the Mangala – Aarti. Deities were dressed in beautiful garments and were decorated with colourful flowers. Melodious kirtan and Gaur – katha continued throughout the day.