1. gouranga
A word that appears on moterway bridges in north west UK. It's only purpose to annoy drivers who are left with a nagging curiosity for the rest of their day until the next day when it ceases to become important ever again.
Google this. You'll have fun. :-)

The word Gouranga comes from the Hare Krishna religious movement. In Sanskrit it means "Golden One". Gauranga - also spelt Gouranga - is an alias of the movement's founding father, Shri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the "golden one", in veneration or because he was said to have had "golden" skin.

The word Gouranga and the phrase "Gouranga ! Be happy!" are of importance in part one and two of the Grand Theft Auto computer game series.

Stickers bearing the word Gouranga or stating Call out Gouranga and be happy! have been appearing on bridges over motorways and railways in the north of England over recent years. Similar stickers have also been appearing on public buildings, as well as the more recent surge of unsolicited (spam) emails bearing the same message. Stickers and fridge magnets with the phrase have also been handed out by 'monks' at recent music festivals throughout the UK, such as the Glastonbury and Donnington (Download) festivals.

This is the full text of the spam message:

Call out Gouranga be happy!!

Gouranga Gouranga Gouranga...

That which brings the highest happiness!!!

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gouranga"

Hah! That's visited my inbox as well.

Tres bizarre.

Hmmm...interesting comments on this entry. I was thinking "Gouranga" was some type of foreign cheese, and that I should happily eat it.

Heh. I had the same reaction...

Whoa CREEPY! I got it too!

Does anyone else find it amusing that since I posted this last week, nearly one in twenty of my incoming hits is a search result of the word "gouranga"? Is there some Kool-aid swigging Gouranga cult out there I don't know about?

I also got it, i found this site by trying to look up what it meant haha

I also got it looking it up on google

I was looking up gouranga after getting an email of it too. Pretty wild since I am going to India in a few weeks and will no doubt hang out at the krishna birth site for at least a minute out of curiosity. Maybe I'll call out Gouranga and see if it works. Already smiling.

This is hilarious. Smitten, where all searchers of Gouranga come to meet. 6/100 came here as search results of the same.

add another in search of the highest happiness
:]

yeah i was talking to a gouranga guy today he wanted me to buy him milk:$ so i gave him a smartie instead

I just got this message too. I finid that it fills me with an odd sort of pleasure when I utter the name aloud. It is said that some words have a mystical resonance that can be felt just by uttering them. Of course, sanskrit is said to be a deeply magickal language. Perhaps I should learn it. Hare Krishnas are a psycho cult but then again so are the religious right, if you ask me. Gauranga! Gauranga! Oh great Gauranga, let thee spread joy over the Earth

I found the spam in an email list I'm subscribed to. I immediately googled "Gouranga" and found you as 5th on the result list (as of 9:45 pm Central US, 5/5/2005)...

i received that today and could not figure out why it sounded so familiar until i googled it and remembered this reading this post hah

I came here after playing GTA

Add another one to the list, happiness to all, damn the spam

Oooohhhhh, so thats what it means. I was all geared up for an internet-sleuthing-mission... first bloody site I come across and mystery is solved. Yipee. Back to job-hunting. Gouranga indeed. Peace to all who read this.

christ, same thing here.. tried to find out what it meant (cause I got the spam mail from some mail address I don't know about, got it from a AOL user) and got this site from google(internets best buddy =)..

Maybe there is a cult, maybe they're going to take over the world and such things.

I'm keen on conspiracy theories :D ! If anybody knows something more about it, maybe a warning that one should not mess with occult stuff, or some other mysterious sentences, please mail me :P

Oh.. got the message today 11/5/2005 and tomorrow is my birthday =)=) maybe something strange and weird will happen.. lets hope so! greets, Kev =)

Actually, gouranga IS a type of french cheese. It is made from fresh goat's milk, but traditionally is eaten during the months of Sept. Oct. and Nov.

Perhaps the gouranga producers are trying to boost their product awareness before the gouranga season?

Just a thought...

I can always tell when the Internet has been hit with a wave of Gouranga spam, as I get a spike of seaching visitors from various engines.

As for the cheese, I must investigate. I will find it, oh yes, I will. And it had BETTER bring me the highest happiness.

Gouranga! You guessed correctly, it is the name of my drag bike, a blown nitro burning 650 BSA that I test on the A1 at night.

Actually, the post by 'gouranga' on May 12th IS correct. Gouranga IS a type of French cheese made from goat's milk, though it does NOT have a limited consumption period of Sept-Nov. It is possible to obtain and consume gouranga cheese any time of the year, as long as you live close to a supplier. Typically, not much gouranga is imported (especially to the US), so it can be quite hard to find outside of France.

Anyhow, it is interesting that some group is now sending out emails with this message. I have not received this message myself, but have heard of others that have.

Hope this helps!

yup.
i'm another googler, trying to find the meaning in my spam

This was a truly helpful page...

Someone told me that if you say 'Gouranga' 108 times out loud then something weird happens ... too freaky to be true?? It ain't a cheese that's for sure

I wonder who is stupid enough to acctualy say gouranga 108 times out loud :P because if there is someone, than the "fact" that gouranga makes you happy is true for me alright :'D

hehehe i must have seen it sooo many imes, yet i alway forget to google it , now i did it sounds fun :)

got it too

I got this 'Gouranga' thing in a text message, 9 of them in 45 mins its realy annoying me now! HAs anyone else received them in a text?