Reference · Glossary

A glossary of Arunachala & spiritual terms

The world of Arunachala, Ramana and Tamil Shaivism comes with a vocabulary of its own ~ Sanskrit and Tamil words that recur across these pages and across the tradition. Here they are, plainly defined, so that nothing you read need be a puzzle.

You do not need to learn any of these words to feel the hill; but knowing them makes everything ~ the temples, the teaching, the festivals, the texts ~ easier to follow, and richer. This glossary gathers the terms that appear most often on this site and in the literature of Arunachala, each defined simply and, where there is more to say, linked to the fuller article. It is arranged alphabetically; use your browser’s find (Ctrl+F or ⌘+F) to jump to a word.

Abhishekam

The ritual bathing of a deity or lingam with sacred substances ~ water, milk, honey, ash and more ~ a central act of Hindu temple worship, performed at Arunachala especially on festival days and Pradosham.

Advaita

“Not-two” ~ the philosophy of non-duality, holding that there is only one reality, the Self (Brahman), and that the apparent separateness of the world and the individual is not ultimately real. Ramana’s teaching is a direct expression of Advaita.

Aksharamanamalai

Ramana’s greatest hymn ~ the ‘Marital Garland of Letters’, 108 verses of love sung to Arunachala.

Aradhana

The annual observance of the day a saint attained mahasamadhi; at the ashram, the day of Ramana’s passing (kept as celebration, not mourning).

Arunachala

The sacred hill at Tiruvannamalai, held to be a manifestation of Shiva in the form of fire; also called Annamalai. The heart of everything on this site.

Ashram

A spiritual community or hermitage centred on a teacher, a practice, or a sacred place. Tiruvannamalai has many; the best known is Sri Ramanasramam.

Ashta Lingam

The eight lingams set around Arunachala, one at each direction of the compass, visited on the Girivalam walk.

Atma Vichara

‘Self-inquiry’ ~ Ramana’s central practice of turning attention back to its source by asking ‘Who am I?’

Bhajan

A devotional song, sung in praise of God, often in call-and-response ~ a central part of the bhakti path, heard morning and evening at some of the town’s ashrams.

Bhakti

The path of devotion and love for God ~ one of the great yogas. The bhajans of the Yogi Ramsuratkumar Ashram express this path, alongside Ramana’s path of inquiry.

Brahman

The Absolute, the one ultimate reality of the universe in Vedanta ~ identical, in Advaita, with the Self (Atman) within.

Darshan

The act of seeing and being seen by the sacred ~ a deity in a temple, or a holy person ~ the heart of a temple visit and of coming into a sage’s presence.

Deepam

A lamp or sacred flame. Karthigai Deepam is the great festival of the beacon of fire lit on Arunachala’s summit.

Ekadashi

The eleventh lunar day of each fortnight, a twice-monthly day of fasting and devotion.

Girivalam

The circumambulation of Arunachala ~ the 14 km sacred walk around the base of the hill, keeping it on the right. Also called Giri Pradakshina.

Gopuram

The towering, ornately-sculpted gateway of a South Indian temple. The Arunachaleswarar temple has nine, the tallest rising some 66 metres.

Guru

A spiritual teacher or guide. Ramana regarded Arunachala itself as his Guru; he taught largely in silence.

Jayanti

A birth anniversary; Ramana Jayanti celebrates the birth of Bhagavan, kept on his birth-star in the Tamil month of Margazhi.

Jivanmukta

One who is liberated while still living in the body ~ a fully realised being. Seshadri Swami was revered as such.

Jnana

Spiritual knowledge or wisdom ~ the direct knowing of the Self. The path of jnana (jnana yoga) is the way of knowledge and inquiry, Ramana’s signature path.

Karma

Action, and the law by which actions bear fruit; the moral cause-and-effect that shapes a soul’s course. Chitra Pournami is especially a day of karmic cleansing.

Karma Yoga

The path of selfless action ~ work offered without attachment to reward, as a spiritual practice.

Lingam

The aniconic, upright form in which Shiva is worshipped, pointing beyond all images. At Arunachala, uniquely, the whole hill is regarded as a cosmic lingam.

Mahasamadhi

The conscious, final passing of a realised sage ~ the great merging into the Self, understood not as death but as absorption. Ramana attained it in 1950.

Mantra

A sacred sound, word or phrase repeated in worship or meditation, such as ‘Om Namah Shivaya’.

Mauna

Silence ~ held by Ramana to be the highest and most direct teaching, beyond all words.

Nakshatra

A lunar mansion or star ~ one of 27 in Indian astronomy. Festival dates and birth anniversaries are often kept by the nakshatra rather than the fixed date.

Nayanmars

The 63 canonised saints of Tamil Shaivism, whose hymns (the Tevaram) sing the glory of Shiva’s temples, including Arunachala.

Pournami

The full-moon day. At Arunachala, each Pournami draws pilgrims to walk Girivalam through the night.

Pradakshina

Circumambulation ~ walking around a sacred object or place, keeping it on the right, as an act of worship. Giri Pradakshina is Girivalam.

Pradosham

The twice-monthly twilight (around sunset of the 13th lunar day) especially auspicious for the worship of Shiva.

Puja

Worship or a ceremony of worship offered to a deity, with offerings of light, flowers, food and prayer.

Puranam / Purana

The vast body of ancient sacred texts telling the myths and glories of the gods and holy places; the Arunachala Mahatmyam is part of the Skanda Purana.

Sadhana

Spiritual practice ~ the disciplined effort, of whatever kind, undertaken toward realisation.

Sadhu

A holy man or ascetic who has renounced worldly life for the spiritual path; many are seen at Arunachala.

Samadhi

(1) A state of deep meditative absorption; (2) the tomb-shrine of a saint, and the burial (rather than cremation) accorded to a realised being. Both senses appear at Arunachala.

Sattvic

Pure, light, harmonious ~ used especially of food that is fresh, vegetarian, and free of onion and garlic, as served at the ashrams.

Self (the Self)

In Ramana’s teaching, one’s true nature ~ pure awareness, identical with Brahman ~ as distinct from the false, separate ‘I’ of the ego. Written with a capital S.

Seva

Selfless service ~ work offered without thought of reward, held to be a genuine spiritual path.

Shiva

One of the supreme deities of Hinduism, the destroyer and transformer; at Arunachala worshipped as the hill itself, in the form of fire.

Siddha

A perfected being who has attained the goal of the path; tradition holds Arunachala to be a dwelling-place of hidden siddhas.

Tapas

Spiritual austerity or disciplined effort ~ the ‘heat’ of practice that purifies and transforms.

Tithi

A lunar day in the Hindu calendar; the sacred days (Pournami, Ekadashi, Pradosham) are fixed by tithi, which is why their dates shift.

Veda Parayana

The chanting of the Vedas ~ heard morning and afternoon at Sri Ramanasramam since Ramana’s own time.

Vedanta

‘The end of the Vedas’ ~ the body of philosophy concerned with the nature of the Self and the Absolute; Advaita is its non-dual school.

Yoga

‘Union’ ~ any of the disciplined paths toward realisation (of knowledge, devotion, action, meditation); more narrowly, the practices of posture and breath.