Jayadeva

(12th c.) Poet and author of the
Gitagovinda, a lyric devotional poem
that uses the separation and eventual
reunion of the lovers Krishna and
Radha as a metaphor for the union of
the human soul with God. According to
tradition, Jayadeva lived at the temple of
the god Jagannath in the city of Puri,
where his wife Padmavati was a dancer.
She is said to have been the first to
dance to Jayadeva’s songs as an offering
to Jagannath, and the Gitagovinda has
been sung and danced as a regular part
of temple worship up to the present
time. For further information see
Barbara Stoller Miller (ed. and trans.),
The Love Song of the Dark Lord, 1977.