Appearance day
Gaura Pūrṇimā
Appearance of Caitanya Mahāprabhu
Dates follow the Māyāpur (India) reckoning, the base of most published Vaiṣṇava calendars. The tradition sets each day by the tithi present at local sunrise, so your own date may fall a day earlier or later — see the calendar for your city.
Vaiṣṇavas mark this full-moon night as the appearance of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in Śrīdhāma Māyāpur, , in 1486. Within this tradition he is not counted as a devotee of Kṛṣṇa but as Kṛṣṇa in the covering mood of Rādhā — the same person the chart places at the centre, come to taste his own sweetness from her side. The chart's fourth petal-region, Navadvīpa, is where that appearance is located.
The night is also associated with the beginning of the saṅkīrtana movement — the congregational chanting of the divine names that spread from across Bengal and Odisha.
On the chart
Sources
- Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 3–4 (Caitanya as Kṛṣṇa in Rādhā's mood)Chart / explanatory tradition
- GBC Vaiṣṇava Calendar (date)Chart / explanatory tradition
A study reference, not a devotional instruction. Observance varies by community and is not detailed here.