Sri Ramananda Ray was the Viceroy

Viceroy

A viceroy is a royal official who runs a country, colony, or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in the place of" and the French word roi, meaning king. A viceroy's province or larger territory is called a viceroyalty...

 of the Rajamahendri(present day Rajahmundry

Rajahmundry

Rajahmundry is a city and municipal corporation of the Andhra Pradesh state in India. It is located east of the state capital, Hyderabad, on the banks of the River Godavari. Known as the Cultural Capital, Rajahmundry is noted for its intense Veda culture and intellect...

 of Andhra Pradesh at the bank of river Godavari),Godavari Province of Kalinga-Utkala Empire(MedievalOrissa

Orissa

Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...

) under the Emperor Gajapati Sri Prataparudra Dev. He was born in early 14th century at Cuttack

Cuttack

Cuttack is the former capital of the state of Orissa, India. It is the headquarters of Cuttack district and is located about 20 km to the north east of Bhubaneswar, the capital of Orissa. The name of the city is an anglicised form of Kataka that literally means The Fort, a reference to the...

 in a noted Oriya

Oriya people

The Oriya, known classically by various names , are an ethnic group of eastern India and of eastern Indo-Aryan stock...

 Kayastha/Karana family. When Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was setting out on his tour of South India, Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya especially requested him to meet Ramananda Raya.

Disputed claims

Ramananda Raya, according to some scholars, was a member of the Vaisnava-Sahajiya community. According to Edward Dimock and Gavin Flood, he may have been the originator of some Vaisnava Sahajiya concepts.