Ramana's devotees · The weaver saint

Mastan Swami: the weaver saint of Desur

A poor Muslim weaver of whom Ramana said, “When he first came, he was already ripe ~ none else was so ripe.” The moving story of Mastan, of Akhilandamma who brought him, and of the samadhi that proves the Self knows no caste or creed.

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← Part of Who Was Ramana Maharshi

Among the four beings for whom Ramana Maharshi is said to have ordained a proper saint's samadhi ~ alongside his own mother, the sage Seshadri Swami, and the cow Lakshmi ~ there stands a figure whose presence there tells you something profound about Arunachala's tradition, and about Ramana. He was a poor Muslim weaver from a village called Desur. His name was Mastan, and Ramana said of him that when he first came, he was already ripe ~ that none was so ripe as he.

The weaver of Desur

Mastan Swami (born around 1878) was, by birth and trade, about as far from the world of Sanskrit scholarship and Brahminical orthodoxy as one could be ~ a Muslim, a weaver, of humble means, from the village of Desur some seventy kilometres from Tiruvannamalai. Yet he had, from before he ever met Ramana, the temperament of a natural mystic ~ given to spontaneous states of absorption, drawn to the life of a wandering devotee. The tradition records that he was a “devotee of devotees,” loving to serve those who loved God. When he came to Arunachala and sat before the silent young sage, something in him that had long been waiting simply recognised its home.

“None was so ripe”

What is striking in the accounts is how highly Ramana regarded him. Of Mastan, Bhagavan reportedly said, “When he first came, he was already ripe. None else was so ripe.” It is said that Mastan could enter deep absorption effortlessly, standing at the doorway of the hall lost in the Self for hours, or sinking into that state while listening to Ramana. In a tradition that could easily have been closed to a poor Muslim weaver, Ramana saw and honoured a soul further along than almost anyone ~ a quiet, radical statement that the Self knows nothing of caste or creed, and that ripeness of the heart is the only qualification that counts.

“When he first came, he was already ripe. None else was so ripe.” ~ Ramana, of a poor Muslim weaver

Akhilandamma, and the Matalayam

Mastan's story is woven together with that of another remarkable Desur devotee, Akhilandamma (Desur Ammal) ~ a widow who became one of Ramana's earliest and most devoted followers, and who is said to have walked the long road from Desur again and again, carrying provisions to feed Bhagavan and those with him in the lean early cave years. It was Akhilandamma who first brought Mastan to Ramana. Together, in 1914, the two of them founded at Desur the Sri Ramanananda Matalayam ~ said to be the very first centre established in Bhagavan's name, anywhere. Akhilandamma's own small house, and her food tradition, are kept there to this day.

His samadhi ~ and where to find it

When Mastan passed, Ramana ordained that he be given a saint's samadhi ~ that rare honour reserved for the realised. And here a point of accuracy matters, because most accounts get it wrong: Mastan's samadhi shrine is at Matam (also spelt Matham), a village near Desur, not at Desur itself. Mastan hailed from Desur, where the Matalayam stands; but his samadhi is at Matam. It was rebuilt by Sri Ramanasramam and consecrated anew in recent years, and it remains a quiet, deeply moving destination for those who make the journey ~ the resting place of a poor weaver whom the sage of Arunachala judged the ripest soul he had met. You can read how to visit it in our guide to the sacred day-trips around Tiruvannamalai.

Last updated 9 October 2026. Following the documented record preserved by Sri Ramanasramam and his devotees; where an account is traditional, it is told as such.