Hindu Culture (Ashrams)

Hindu  Culture – (Ashrams, Mutts)

Ashrams, Mutts & Akhada

Traditionally, an ashram (Sanskrit/Hindi:   is a spiritual hermitage. Additionally, today the term ashram often denotes a locus of Indian cultural activity such as yoga, music study or religious instruction, the moral equivalent of a studio or dojo.

An ashram would typically, but not always, be located far from human habitation, in forests or mountainous regions, amidst refreshing natural surroundings conducive to spiritual instruction and meditation. The residents of an ashram regularly performed spiritual and physical exercises, such as the various forms of Yoga. Other sacrifices and penances, such as Yajnas were also performed. Many ashrams also served as Gurukuls or residential schools for children.
Sabarmati Ashram where Gandhi stayed.

Ashrams have been a powerful symbol throughout Hindu history and theology. Most Hindu kings, until the medieval ages, are known to have had a sage who would advise the royal family in spiritual matters, or in times of crisis, who was called the rajguru, which literally translates to royal teacher. A world-weary emperor going to this guru's ashram, and finding solace and tranquility, is a recurring motif in many folktales and legends of ancient India.

Sometimes, the goal of a pilgrimage to the ashram was not tranquility, but instruction in some art, especially warfare. In the Hindu epic Ramayana, the protagonist princes of ancient Ayodhya, Rama and Lakshmana, go to the Rishi Vishvamitra's ashram to protect his Yajnas from being defiled by emissary-demons of Ravana. After they prove their mettle, the princes receive martial instruction from the sage, especially in the use of Divine weapons, called Divyastras (Sanskrit Divya: Divine + Astra: missile weapon; the Sanskrit word 'astra' means missile weapon, such as an arrow, as opposed to 'shastra', which means a hand-to-hand weapon, such as a mace.) In the Mahabharata, Lord Krishna, in his youth, goes to the ashram of Sage Sandipani, to gain knowledge of both intellectual and spiritual matters.

Ashrams & Maths

Main Sampradayas of the Mats & Ashrams
 

Sl No	Sampradayas	No of Sub Sumbradayas	Group	Founder	Deities Worshipped	Nature
1	Sri Sampradaya	25	Vaishnava Sampradaya	Ramanand	Lakshmi Narayan	Orthodox
2	Nimbarka	21	Vaishnava Sampradaya	Nimbarakacharya	Radha Krishna	Orthodox
3	Brahma Sampradaya	20	Vaishnava Sampradaya	Madhwacharya	Vishnu	Orthodox
4	Madhawa Gauriya	24	Vaishnava Sampradaya	Chaitanya Maha Prabhu	Radha Krishna	Orthodox
5	Ramanandi	31	Vaishnava Sampradaya	Vallabacharya	Radha Krishna	Orthodox
6	Vallabhachari	27	Vaishnava Sampradaya	Ramanand	Sita Rama	Orthodox
7	Sakhi	6	Vaishnava Sampradaya		Rama Chandra	Orthodox
8	Udasi	5	Vaishnava Sampradaya	Sri Chand	Panchdeo	Orthodox
9	Swami Narayan	5	Vaishnava Sampradaya	Sant Swamy Narayan	All Hindu Deities	Orthodox
10	Dhami	3	Vaishnava Sampradaya	Sant Pran Nath	Bala Krishna	Orthodox
11	Dharnishwari	1	Vaishnava Sampradaya	Baba Dharini Das	Sita Ram	Orthodox
12	Mahanubhawao	2	Vaishnava Sampradaya	Chakradhar	Sri Krishna	Orthodox
13	Harishchandi	3	Vaishnava Sampradaya		All Vaishnava Deities	Orthodox
14	Malookdasi	1	Vaishnava Sampradaya	Malook Das	Vishnu	Orthodox
15	Parinami	4	Vaishnava Sampradaya	Swamy Pran Nath	Bal Krishna	Orthodox
16	Rasik	2	Vaishnava Sampradaya		Sita Ram	Orthodox
17	Parasrami	1	Vaishnava Sampradaya	Paras Ram Devacharya	Radha Krishna	Orthodox
18	Radha Vallabhi	6	Vaishnava Sampradaya	Hit Hari Vansh	Sir Krishna	Orthodox
19	Radha Ramni	4	Vaishnava Sampradaya	Baba Harihara Das	Radha	Orthodox
20	Brahma Kumari	5		Baba Lekh Raj	All Hindu Deities	Reformist
21	Kabir	5		Kabir Das	Formless God	Reformist
22	Dadu	5		Dadu Dayal	Formless God	Reformist
23	Nirmala	5		Baba Veer Singh	Formless God (Adi Gerantha)	Reformist
24	Bhagat	1		Baba Bhagat Ram	Formless God (Adi Grantha)	Reformist
25	Baba Lali	3	Vaishnava Sampradaya	Sant Baba Lal	Formless God (Ram or Hari)	Reformist
26	Charandasi	3	Vaishnava Sampradaya	Sant Charan Das	All Vaishnava Deities	Reformist
27	Dariyadasi	1		Dariya Das	Formless God (Satyalok)	Reformist
28	Nirankari	4		Baba Dayal Das	Formless God	Reformist
29	Kayam	1		Karuna Sagar	Formless God	Reformist
30	Radha Soami	5		Baba Shiva Dayal	Formless God (Radha Soami Dham)	Reformist
31	Dhariya	5		Darya Saheb (A Muslim)	Formless God (Para Brahma or Allah)	Reformist
32	Gheesa	4		Sant Gheesa Das	Formless God	Reformist
33	Garib Dasi	5		Sant Garib Das	Formless God	Reformist
34	Gulab Dasi	4		Baba Gulab Das	Happiness as the goal of life	Reformist
35	Lal	3	Vaishnava Sampradaya	Baba Lal Das (A Muslim)	Formless God (Ram)	Reformist
36	Nangi	2	Vaishnava Sampradaya	Sant Derha Raj	Formless God (Ram)	Reformist
37	Nirjani	5		Sant Jagan Das	Formless God	Reformist
38	Nambhari	5		Bhai Ram Singh	Formless God	Reformist
39	Nirakari	4		Baba Sarju Das	Formless God	Reformist
40	Paltu Sahabi	1		Sant Paltu Saheb	Formless God	Reformist
41	Prem Prakashi	4		Baba prem Prakash	Formless God	Reformist
42	Panap	3		Pramahans Panap Das	Formless God (Hari & Ram)	Reformist
43	Rai Dasi	1	Vaishnava Sampradaya	Ravi Das	All Vaishnava Deities	Reformist
44	Ram Sanchi	4	Vaishnava Sampradaya	Jai Mal Das	Formless God (Ram)	Reformist
45	Shiva Narayani	5	Vaishnava Sampradaya	Shiva Narayan	Formless God (Shiva Narayan)	Reformist
46	Satta Nami	1	Vaishnava Sampradaya		Formless God	Reformist
47	Sitarami	4	Vaishnava Sampradaya	Baba Ram Chandra	Formless God (Sita Ram)	Reformist
48	Sadh	1		Sant Beer Bhan	Formless God	Reformist
49	Saheb	4	Vaishnava Sampradaya	Tulasi Das	Ram	Reformist
50	Suthara	3		Suthara Sab	Formless God (Adi Grantha)	Reformist
51	Seva	2		Baba Kenhaiya Das	Formless God (Adi Grantha)	Reformist
52	Bawari	2			Formless God	Reformist
53	Dashanami	60	Smarta Sampradaya	Shankaracharya	Panchayatana (Vishnu, Shakti, Shiva, Ganapati, Surya)	Orthodox
54	Kanphata	60	Shaiva Sampradaya	Baba Gorak Nath	Shiva	Orthodox
55	Agori	10	Shaiva Sampradaya	Brahma Giri	Shiva	Orthodox
56	Veerashaiva	5	Shaiva Sampradaya		Shiva	Orthodox
57	Lingayat	5	Shaiva Sampradaya	Basavanna	Shiva	Reformist
58	Keenarami	10	Shaiva Sampradaya	Keena Ram	Shiva	Orthodox
59	Shivoham	20	Shaiva Sampradaya	Akhandanand	Shhiva	Reformist
60	Karalingi	5	Shaiva Sampradaya		Shiva	Orthodox
61	Sat Sain	10	Shaiva Sampradaya	Baba Sat Sain	Shiva	Reformist
62	Ghanapatiya	4	Ganapatya Sampradaya		Ganesha	Orthodox
63	Kapalik	1	Shaiva Sampradaya	Kal	Kal Bhairo	Orthodox
64	Shakta	4	Shakta Sampradaya		Kali, Durga, Bhagavati	Orthodox
65	Anandamargi	2	Others	Prabhath Ranjan Sarkar (alias Anand Murthi)	Happiness as the goal of life	Radical
66	Muni Samaji	2	Others	Shiva Kumar Shastri	OM	Radical
67	Kumbhi Patia	2	Others	Baba Mukund Das	Phallic Worship (Horse)	Radical
68	Kaumara	1	Kaumara Sampradaya		Skanda or Subramanya or Muruga	Orthodox
69	Sri Vaishnava	1	Vaishnava Sampradaya	Ramanujacharya	Lakshmi Narayana	Orthodox
70	Parama Vaishanava	1	Vaishnava Sampradaya	Madhvacharya	Krishna	Orthodox

Om Tat Sat

                                                        

(Continued...) 

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