Gadadhar Bhatt and His Family

In this chapter, Swapna Sharma brings to light the special contributions of Gadādhar Bhaṭṭ and his family to the constitution of Vrindavan’s distinctive spiritual culture, relating these especially to the family’s Telangana origins and in their distinctive position as a bridge between Vallabhite, Chaitanyite, Haridasi, and Radhavallabhi religious communities (sampradāya). Among other things, Sharma draws attention to Gadādhar’s close relationship to Jīva Gosvāmī and his reputation as a practitioner of bhāgavata kathā, but it is the appeal of his Brajbhāṣā poetry that stands out above all.