This festival marks the birth of Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who is the golden avatara (Gouranga) in this age of Kaliyuga. He is Lord Krishna himself with the feelings of Srimati Radharani. He is a hidden avatar in this age to propagate the Harinaam Sankirtan Movement.
Lord Gouranga was born on the day of Holi, Phalgun Purnima , It usually falls in the month of Februay/March. This festival is celebrated at a very grand scale in Ajmer, Rajasthan under the supervision of our Guru Maharaj Ji. Thousands of devotees from all around India gather together to attend this mega event.</p>
<p>The festival starts almost a week before Gour Purnima day where we daily have Mangala Aarti, Prabhat pheri, Satsang, Sandhya Aarti etc. however mainly it’s a three day festival. A day before Gour Purnima day we have a great procession in the city in which all the devotees walk through the streets of Ajmer –singing bhajans, dancing, playing all musical instruments and rejoicing in ecstasy of Harinam Sankirtan. On the day of Gour Purnima, all the devotees observe fast and there is 12 hour non stop mahamantra kirtan on this day. In the evening we have Badhai utsav to celebrate the birth of Lord Chaitanya. The next day is the Anandotsava (Annakut) festival where a lot many varieties of bhog are prepared for the Lord and all the devotees are very actively engaged in all the duties assigned to them.
Thus the festival gives all of us a chance to progress and elevate ourselves in Krishna Consciousness</p>