The Golden Avata€ra, Lord Caitanya Mah€aprabhu, the most merciful incarnation of the Supreme Lord Krishna, appeared in Nadia, India on a Purnima (full Moon) tithi (of Govinda masa) in 1486. According to Vedic scriptures, the Golden Avata€ra appears on this planet only once in a day of Brahma. That is, once in 8.64 billion years!

The advent of the Golden Avata€ra heralds the dawn of a Golden Age - Gaur€abda. The yuga dharma of this Golden Age is sankirtana-yajna, the congregational chanting of the Holy Names of God, especially the Hare Krishna mahamantra as propagated by the Golden Avatara Himself:

Lord Caitanya’s appearance tithi being Purnima presented His devotees the opportunity to commemmorate His advent with a transcendental calendar system which dovetails naturally into the luni-solar movement and culminates with His appearance anniversary. Such a calendar system was conceived and implemented by Srila Bhaktisiddha€nta Sarasvati Thakura, the 10th spiritual master in the Gaudiya-Vaishnava guru-parampar€a (disciplic lineage) from Lord Chaitanya. This is the basis of the calendar system being followed till today by the Gaudiya-Vaishnavas, especially the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) founded by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta's disciple, Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhup€ada, who brought this system together with Lord Caitanya's message out of India and spread it all over the world.

The Gaurabda luni-solar year starts on the day after Sri Gaura Purnima, Lord Chaitanya's appearance anniversary tithi, and ends on the next Sri Gaura Purnima. The day after Sri Gaura Purnima is the New Year, the first day of Vishnu (Chaitra) masa, and is celebrated with a public feast named after Lord Caitanya's father, Sri Jagannatha Mishra, who started this tradition by hosting a public feast on the day after the Lord's appearance.

This Gaurabda Panchanga is today's descendant of the original Panchanga published by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, called the Sri Navadvip Panjika (in Bengali language). Srila Bhaktisiddha€nta utilised a completely Krishna-conscious naming convention in his Panchanga. The introduction to his Panchanga reads: "For the welfare of everyone, Srila Jiva Gosvami Prabhupa€da has written his Sri Hari-namamrta grammar with the objective of cultivating Harina€m, so in the same way Sri Siddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami has written Navadvip Panjika accordingly using different names of Vishnu for the months, half-months (Paksha), and days to cultivate Sri Harinam Kirtan."

The Gaurabda Panchanga utilises the Krishna-conscious names given by Srila Bhaktisiddanta for the synodic months (Masa) and half-months (Paksha). His naming convention for the components of the Panchanga are given in the reference tables, under the "Gaudiya" column.