TYPE: Mendicant God
ORIGIN: Hindu (Puranic) - India
INFORMATION: A deified mortal how became one of the many incarnations of the god Visnu. Born at Nadiya in CE 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.