Sri Ramana Maharshi The Way of Self-enquiry (1879 1950)

Sri Ramana Maharshi was born on December 30, 1879, as Venkataraman Iyer, in a village called Tiruchuli, about 30 miles south of Madurai, in southern India, into a middle-class family. His father died when he was twelve, and he lived with his uncle in Madurai, where he attended American Mission High School. His classmates remember that he had a strong tendency for religious ecstasy even as a student.

Others remember his abnormally deep sleeping habits

that led to playing tricks on the

young Venkataraman while he

was asleep. Apart from that, he

was described as strong, quiet and intelligent. At age 16, he became spontaneously self-realized

Six weeks later he ran away from

home, to be close to the holy hill of

Arunachala, near Tiruvannamalai,

in Southern India, where he would

remain for the rest of his life.

Upon arrival at Tiruvannamalai, for several

years he stopped talking and spent many hours

each day in Samadhi, in a small cell under the

Tiruvannamalai Temple.

His Biography continued

When he began speaking again, people

came to ask him questions, and he soon

acquired a reputation as a sage.

In 1907, when he was 28, one of his early devotees named him Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi, Divine Eminent Ramana the Great Seer, and the name stuck.

Eventually he became world-famous, and an ashram was built around him, which is still functioning today, known as Ramanashramam, with many permanent or temporary residents, and hundreds of people visiting it each day throughout the year. Sri Ramana Maharshi died

of cancer in 1950, at the age of 70.