Ramana Maharishi

Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi
Sri Ramana Maharshi in his late 60s.
Religion	Hinduism
Philosophy	Advaita Vedanta
Personal
Nationality	Indian
Born	Venkataraman Iyer (1879-12-30)30 December 1879 Tiruchuzhi, Madras Presidency, British India
Died	14 April 1950(1950-04-14) (aged 70) Sri Ramana Ashram, Tiruvannamalai, India
Guru	Arunachala
Literary works	Nān Yār? ("Who am I?") Five Hymns to Arunachala

Ramana Maharshi /ˈrʌmənə məhʌˈrɪʃi/ (30 December 1879 – 14 April 1950) was a Hindu sage and jivanmukta. He was born Venkataraman Iyer, but is most commonly known by the name Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi.

He was born in what is now Tiruchuli, Tamil Nadu, India. In 1895, an attraction to the sacred hill Arunachala and the 63 Nayanars was aroused in him, and in 1896, at the age of 16, he had a "death-experience" where he became aware of a "current" or "force" (avesam) which he recognised as his true "I" or "self", which he later identified with Ishvara. This resulted in a state that he later described as "the state of mind of Iswara or the jnani". Six weeks later he left his uncle's home in Madurai, and journeyed to the holy mountain Arunachala, in Tiruvannamalai, where he took on the role of a sannyasin (though not formally initiated), and remained for the rest of his life.

He soon attracted devotees who regarded him as an avatar and came to him for darshan ("the sight of God"), and in later years an ashram grew up around him, where visitors received upadesa ("spiritual instruction") by sitting silently in his company and raising their concerns and questions. Since the 1930s his teachings have been popularised in the West, resulting in his worldwide recognition as an enlightened being.