Sri Ramanashram, also known as Sri Ramanasramam, is the

ashram An ashram (, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery in Indian religions, not including Buddhism. Etymology The Sanskrit noun is a thematic nominal derivative from the root 'toil' (< Advaita master

Ramana Maharshi Ramana Maharshi (; ; 30 December 1879 – 14 April 1950) was an Indian Hindu Sage (philosophy), sage and ''jivanmukta'' (liberated being). He was born Venkataraman Iyer, but is mostly known by the name Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. He was b ...

from 1922 until his death in 1950. It is situated at the foot of the

Arunachala Annamalai (IAST: , 'Red Mountain') is a hill in Tiruvannamalai district, Tamil Nadu, and one of the five main Shaivism, Shaiva holy places in South India. The Arunachalesvara Temple to Shiva is located at the base of the hill. The hill is al ...

hill, to the west of

Tiruvannamalai Tiruvannamalai (Tamil: ''Tiruvaṇṇāmalai'' IPA: , otherwise spelt ''Thiruvannamalai''; ''Trinomali'' or ''Trinomalee'' on British records) is a city and the administrative headquarters of Tiruvannamalai District in the Indian state of ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

, where thousands of seekers flocked to be in his presence. His

samadhi Statue of a meditating Rishikesh.html" ;"title="Shiva, Rishikesh">Shiva, Rishikesh ''Samādhi'' (Pali and ), in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, is a state of meditative consciousness. In many Indian religious traditions, the cultivati ...

shrine continues to attract devotees from all over the world.

History

Ramana Mahanirvana Place in Thiruvanamalai

The ashram gradually grew in its present location after Ramana Maharshi settled near the Samadhi shrine of his mother Alagammal, who died on 19 May 1922. In the beginning, a single small hut was built there. By 1924 two huts were set up, one opposite the samadhi and the other to the north. Amongst its early western visitors was British writer

Paul Brunton Paul Brunton is the pen name of Raphael Hurst (21 October 1898 – 27 July 1981), a British author of spiritual books. He is best known as one of the early popularizers of Neo-Hindu spiritualism in western esotericism, notably via his be ...

in 1931, who is credited with introducing

to the West through his books "A Search in Secret India" (1934) and "The Secret Path". Writer

W. Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

visited the ashram in 1938, and later used Ramana Maharshi as the model for the holy man, Shri Ganesha in his novel, ''

The Razor’s Edge ''The Razor's Edge'' is a 1944 novel by W. Somerset Maugham. It tells the story of Larry Darrell, an American pilot traumatized by his experiences in World War I, who sets off in search of some transcendent meaning in his life. Maugham is th ...

'' (1944). Other visitors included

Swami Sivananda Swami Sivananda Saraswati (; 8 September 1887 – 14 July 1963), also called Swami Sivananda, was a Modern yoga gurus, yoga guru, a Hinduism, Hindu spiritual teacher, and a proponent of ''Vedanta''. Sivananda was born in Pattamadai, in the Ti ...

Paramahansa Yogananda Paramahansa Yogananda (born Mukunda Lal Ghosh; January 5, 1893March 7, 1952) was an Indian and American Hindu monk, yoga, yogi and guru who introduced millions to meditation and Kriya Yoga school, Kriya Yoga through his organization, Self ...

Alfred Sorensen Alfred Julius Emmanuel Sorensen (October 27, 1890 – August 13, 1984), also known as Sunyata, Shunya or Sunyabhai, was a Danish mystic, horticulturist and writer who lived in Europe, India and the US. Early life and background Alfred Sorensen ...

(Sunyata) and

Wei Wu Wei Terence James Stannus Gray (14 September 1895 – 5 January 1986) was a theatre producer who created the Cambridge Festival Theatre as an experimental theatre in Cambridge. He produced over 100 plays there between 1926 and 1933. Later in li ...

. Arthur Osborne stayed at the Ashram for twenty years, and edited the Ashram's journal, ''

The Mountain Path ''The Mountain Path'' is an English-language quarterly magazine published by Sri Ramanasramam, the ashram An ashram (, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery in Indian religions, not including Buddhism. Etymology The Sanskrit noun is a ...

'', besides writing several book on Ramana Maharshi and his teachings.

Mouni Sadhu Mouni Sadhu (17 August 189724 December 1971) was the pen name of Mieczyslaw Demetriusz Sudowski, a Polish-born author of spiritual, mystical, and esoteric subjects. He lived in Poland until World War II and eventually settled in Australia. He pr ...

spent several months at the Ashram in 1949.

David Godman David Godman (born 1953) is an English writer. He has written on the life, teachings and disciples of Ramana Maharshi, an Indian sage who lived and taught for more than fifty years at Arunachala, a sacred mountain in Tamil Nadu, India. In the l ...

came to the ashram in 1976, and has since written or edited fourteen books on topics related to Sri Ramana Maharshi. He continues to live near the ashram. Niranjananda Swami, younger brother of Ramana Maharshi, who had moved to the ashram along with his mother in 1916, stayed at the ashram for the rest of his life and handling its management. His son and grandson have looked after the ashram in turn. Osborne, p. 119

Gallery

File:Ramanasaramam Compound.jpg, Ramanasaramam Compound File:Sri-Ramana-Sramam.jpg, Entrance of Sri Ramanasramam Tiruvannamalai, Sri Ramana Ashram, Sri Ramanasramam, India.jpg, Campus File:Raman Maharishi main temple.jpg, Main temple decorated during Maharshi's birthday celebrations Tiruvannamalai, Sri Ramana Ashram, India.jpg, Hall File:Sri-Ramana-Sramam-photo46.jpg, A shrine inside Ramana Ashram File:Sri-Ramana-Sramam-photo38.jpg, Personal use objects of Ramana Maharshi

External links

A Day in the Life at Ramana Maharshi AshramSri Ramanasramam, Official websiteSri Ramana Ashram on the mapSri Rudram Namakam chamakam chanting Live Video from Sri Ramana AshramRamana Maharshi Upadesa Saram Chanting Live
{{Hindu reform movements Religious organisations based in India Ashrams Hindu new religious movements Tiruvannamalai district Religious organizations established in 1922 Advaita Vedanta Ramana Maharshi

History

Gallery

See also

Further reading

External links