Ramakrishna Paramahamsa Ramkṛiṣṇa Pôromôhongśa ; 18 February 1836 – 16 August 1886), born Gadadhar Chatterjee or Gadadhar Chattopadhyay (Bengali: [Gôdadhor Chôṭṭopaddhae]), was an Indian mystic and yogi during the 19th century. Ramakrishna was given to spiritual ecstacies from a young age, and was influenced by several religious traditions, including devotion toward the goddess Kali, Tantra, Vaishnava bhakti, and Advaita Vedanta. Reverence and admiration for him amongst Bengali elites led to the formation of the Ramakrishna Mission by his chief disciple Swami Vivekananda. His devotees look upon him as an incarnation or Avatara of the formless Supreme Brahman while some devotees see him as an avatara of Vishnu.
