Ramaṇa Maharṣi
1879–1950 · Tiruvaṇṇāmalai, Tamil Nadu · Advaita, self-enquiry
Venkaṭarāman, born at Tiruchuḻi in Tamil Nadu, had at sixteen a sudden, overwhelming experience of death in which he realised that he was not the body but the deathless Self. Soon after he left home for the holy hill of Aruṇācala at Tiruvaṇṇāmalai and never left it again.
He taught mostly in silence and through simple answers, pointing seekers to self-enquiry (ātma-vicāra) — asking “Who am I?” and tracing the “I”-thought to its source. His short work Nān Yār? (Who am I?) and his talks, recorded by devotees, are read worldwide. Sri Ramanasramam stands at the foot of Aruṇācala.
1879–1950 · Aruṇācala, Tiruvaṇṇāmalai · “Who am I?”