Chaitanya

Mendicant god. Hindu (Puranic). A deified mortal who became one of the many incarnations of the god VISĖ‡NU. Born at Nadiya in AD 1484, he died at Puri in 1527. Chaitanya was a sickly child who, according to legend, was left to his fate, hanging in a tree to die, but was revived by the gods and thus became deified. He was married twice before adopting a strict ascetic existence at the age of twenty-four, from which time he traveled extensively, eventually settling in the holy city of Benares. He is remembered as a great social reformer. His main sanctuary at Nadiya includes a small statue of KRSNA to whom he devoted himself.