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[[File:Bhaktisiddhanta.jpg|thumb|Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, the founder of Gaudiya Math.]]
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The '''Gaudiya Math''' (pronounced ''matt'', [[IAST]]: ''Gauḍīya Maṭha'') is a [[Gaudiya Vaishnavism|Gaudiya Vaishnava]] [[matha]] (monastic organisation) formed on 6 September 1920,<ref name=bio1997>Devamayī dāsi, "A Divine Life: Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda" in ''Prabhupada Saraswati Thakur: The Life & Precepts of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī,'' Mandala Publishing, Eugene, Oregon: 1997, pp. 24, 26, 49. {{ISBN|978-0-945475-10-1}}.</ref> about 30 months after [[Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati]] took ''[[sannyasa]]'', the renounced order of life. On 7 March 1918,<ref name=bio1997 /> the same day he took ''sannyasa,'' he established the Sri Chaitanya Math in [[Mayapura]] in West Bengal, later recognised as the parent body of all the Gaudiya Math branches.<ref name=bio1997 /> Its purpose was to spread [[Gaudiya Vaishnavism]], the philosophy of the medieval [[Vaishnavism|Vaisnava]] saint [[Chaitanya Mahaprabhu]], through preaching and [[publishing]].

From the beginning of Chaitanya's ''[[bhakti]]'' movement in Bengal, devotees, including [[Haridasa Thakur]] and others, whether [[Islam|Muslim]] or [[Hinduism|Hindu]] by birth, have been participants. This openness and disregard for the traditional [[caste]] system received a boost from the "broad-minded vision" of [[Bhaktivinoda Thakura]],<ref name=Sherbow2004>{{cite journal
| author = Sherbow, P.H.
| year = 2004
| title = AC Bhaktivedanta Swami's Preaching In The Context Of Gaudiya Vaishnavism
| journal = The Hare Krishna Movement: The Postcharismatic Fate of a Religious Transplant
| url = https://books.google.com/books?q=and%20others%20%20Haridasa%20of%20Muslim%20by%20birth%20were%20the%20participants&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8
|page=139
}}</ref> a nineteenth-century magistrate and prolific writer on ''bhakti'' topics, and was institutionalised by his son and successor Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura in the twentieth-century Gaudiya Math.<ref name=Sherbow2004 />

The Gaudiya Math had established 64 branches.<ref name=bio1997 /> Most were in India, but preaching centres were maintained for a time in [[Burma]], [[England]] and [[Germany]].<ref name="jones">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Jones |first1=Constance A. |last2=Ryan |first2=James D. |title=Gaudiya Math |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OgMmceadQ3gC |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Hinduism |year=2007 |location=New York |publisher=Facts On File |page=165 |isbn=978-0-8160-5458-9 |series=Encyclopedia of World Religions. [[J. Gordon Melton]], Series Editor |archive-url=https://archive.org/stream/ConstanceA.JonesJamesD.RyanEncyclopediaOfHinduism/Constance%20A.%20Jones%2C%20James%20D.%20Ryan%20Encyclopedia%20Of%20Hinduism_djvu.txt |archive-date=2019-01-07 }}</ref> The first European preaching center was established in [[London]] in 1933 (London Glouster House, Cornwall Garden, W7 South Kensington) under the name Gaudiya Mission Society of London'. Lord Zetland, the English Secretary of State, was the president of this society.<ref name="jones" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vrindavan.org/English/Books/GM/GMI.html|title=Gaudiya Math - Part I|website=www.vrindavan.org|access-date=16 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413004753/http://www.vrindavan.org/English/Books/GM/GMI.html|archive-date=13 April 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>
The second European preaching center was opened by [[Bhakti Hridaya Bon Swami|Swami B.H. Bon Maharaj]] in [[Berlin]] (W30 Eisenacherstr. 29).

Soon after the Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati's death (1 January 1937), a dispute began and the original Gaudiya Math mission divided into two administrative bodies which continued preaching on their own, up to the present day. In a settlement they divided the 64 Gaudiya Math centers into two groups. '''Sri Chaitanya Math''' Branch were headed by Srila Bhakti Vilasa Tirtha Maharaj. '''[[Gaudiya Mission]]'''<ref>{{official website|gaudiyamission.org|Gaudiya Mission official website}}</ref> were headed by Ananta Vasudev Prabhu, who became known as Srila Bhakti Prasad Puri Maharaj after accepting [[sannyasa]] for short duration.

Many of the disciples of [[Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati]] did not agree with the spirit of these newly created two fractions, or were simply inspired to expand the mission of their guru on their own enthusiasm, started their own missions. Many of these autonomous missions are still known as Gaudiya Math. Some of the other new missions are:

* '''Sri Gaudiya Vedanta Samiti''' established by [[Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Goswami]] Maharaj (1940)<ref>{{official website|gaudiya.com|Sri Gaudiya Vedanta Samiti official website}}</ref>
* '''Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math''' established by [[Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Goswami]] Maharaj(1941)<ref>{{official website|scsmath.com|Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math official website}}</ref>
* '''Sri Chaitanya Gaudiya Math''' established by Srila Bhakti Dayita Madhav Goswami Maharaj (1953)<ref>{{official website|sreecgmath.org|Sri Chaitanya Gaudiya Math official website}}</ref>
* '''Shree Guru Prapanna Ashram''' established by Srila Patitpavan Goswami Thakur (1953)<ref>{{official website|shreeguruprapannaashram.wordpress.com|Shree Guru Prapanna Ashram official website}}</ref>
* '''[[International Society for Krishna Consciousness]]''' established by [[A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada]] (1966)<ref>{{official website|iskcon.org|[[International Society for Krishna Consciousness]] official website}}</ref>
* '''Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mission''' established by Srila Bhakti Vaibhava Puri Goswami Maharaj (1966)<ref>{{official website|ikcm.org|Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mission official website}}</ref>
* '''[[Science of Identity Foundation]]''' established by [[ISKCON guru system#Siddhaswarupa|Siddhaswarupananda Paramahamsa]] (Chris Butler) (1977)<ref>{{official website|scienceofidentity.org|[[Science of Identity Foundation]] official website}}</ref>
* '''[[Bhakti Hridaya Bon#Sri Sri Radha Govindaji Trust|Sri Sri Radha Govindaji Trust]]''' established by Srila [[Bhakti Hridaya Bon]] (1979)
* '''Sri Gopinatha Gaudiya Math''' established by Srila Bhakti Pramode Puri Goswami Maharaj (1989)<ref>{{official website|gopinathgaudiyamath.com|Sri Gopinatha Gaudiya Math official website}}</ref>

Some are very large missions, and some are smaller branches started by individual Vaishnavas. What they hold in common is that they are autonomous branches of the tree of the Gaudiya Math. Almost all of them have published books and periodicals and opened one or more temples.<ref>{{cite book |author=Swami B. A. Paramadvaiti |title=Our Family — the Gaudiya Math. A study of the expansion of Gaudiya Vaisnavism and the many branches developing around the Gaudiya Math |url=https://vrindavan.org/English/Books/GM/GMI.html |year=1999 |publisher=VRINDA The Vrindavan Institute for Vaisnava Culture and Studies |isbn=3-927745-90-1 |access-date=2018-12-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413004753/http://www.vrindavan.org/English/Books/GM/GMI.html |archive-date=2019-04-13 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==References and notes==
{{reflist}}

{{commons category|Gaudiya Math}}
{{Chaitanya sampradaya}}
{{Modern Gaudiya Vaishnavas}}
{{Nadia topics}}

[[Category:Gaudiya Vaishnavism]]
[[Category:Defunct Hindu organizations]]
[[Category:Hindu religious orders]]
[[Category:Hindu monasteries in India]]
[[Category:Hindu new religious movements]]
[[Category:Hindu organisations based in India]]
[[Category:Hinduism in Kolkata]]
[[Category:Nadia district]]
[[Category:Organisations based in Kolkata]]
[[Category:Religious organizations established in 1920]]
[[Category:1920 establishments in British India]]

Gaudiya Math - Revision history

>Citation bot at 00:32, 19 May 2021