Editing Ashram

{{short description|Hindu spiritual hermitage or monastery}}
{{about|spiritual hermitages or monasteries|other uses|Ashram (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Shakuntala plaque from Bhita.jpg|thumb|Ashram of sage ''[[Kanva]]'' depicted on terracotta plaque, 2nd century BCE.]]
An '''ashram'''<ref>{{cite web |title=Ashram |url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/ashram |publisher=Cambridge English Dictionary |access-date=4 December 2019 |quote=a place where a group of Hindus live together away from the rest of society, or a place where Hindus can go in order to pray}}</ref> ({{langx|sa|आश्रम}}, {{IAST|āśrama}}) is a spiritual [[Hermitage (religious retreat)|hermitage]] or a [[monastery]] in [[Indian religions]], not including [[Buddhism]].<ref name="Swahananda1990">{{cite book|author=Swami Swahananda|title=Monasteries in South Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oCyRen5mGAAC&pg=PA92|date=1 January 1990|publisher=Vedanta Press|isbn=978-0-87481-047-9|pages=92–}}</ref><ref name="Dreuille1999">{{cite book|author=Mayeul de Dreuille|title=From East to West: A History of Monasticism|chapter=1 Hindu mansticism|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bXTaxKSFHeMC&pg=PA3|year=1999|publisher=Gracewing Publishing|isbn=978-0-85244-464-1|pages=3–27}}</ref>

==Etymology==
The Sanskrit noun {{IAST|āśrama-}} is a thematic nominal derivative from the root  {{IAST|śram<sup>i</sup>}} 'toil' (< [[Proto-Indo-European|PIE]] *''ḱremh<sub>2</sub>'', {{confer}} [[śramaṇa]]) with the prefix {{IAST|ā}} 'towards.'<ref>{{cite book|author=Manfred Mayrhofer|title=Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen I. Band|page=664|publisher=Winter|year=1992|place=Heidelberg}}</ref> An ashram is a place where one strives towards a goal in a disciplined manner. Such a goal could be [[ascetic]], [[spirituality|spiritual]], [[yogic]] or any other.<ref name="Johnston2000p94">{{cite book|author=George Weckman| editor= William M. Johnston|title=Encyclopedia of Monasticism: A-L|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GfC0TDkJJNgC&pg=PA94 |year=2000|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-57958-090-2|page=94}}</ref>

==Overview==
[[File:Sevagram Ashram .jpg|thumb|Sevagram Ashram in Sabramati, 1936.]]
An ashram would traditionally, but not necessarily in contemporary times, be located far from human habitation, in [[forest]]s or [[mountain|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 [[yajna]]s, were also performed.<ref>{{cite book|title=India through the ages|url=https://archive.org/details/indiathroughages00mada|last=Gopal|first=Madan|year= 1990| page= [https://archive.org/details/indiathroughages00mada/page/70 70]|editor=K. S. Gautam|publisher=Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India}}</ref> Many ashrams also served as [[gurukula]]s, residential schools for children under the [[guru-shishya tradition]].

Sometimes, the goal of a pilgrimage to the ashram was not tranquility, but instruction in some art, especially warfare. In the ''[[Ramayana]]'', the princes of ancient [[Ayodhya (Ramayana)|Ayodhya]], [[Rama]], and [[Lakshmana]], go to [[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. In the ''[[Mahabharata]]'', [[Krishna]], in his youth, goes to the ashram of [[Sandipani]] to gain knowledge of both intellectual and spiritual matters.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}}

==Schools in Maharashtra==
[[Boarding school]]s, especially in the tribal areas of [[Maharashtra]] and elsewhere in [[India]], are called ''ashram shala'' or ashram schools. One such school is the [[Lok Biradari Prakalp#Ashram Shala|Lok Biradari Prakalp Ashram Shala]].<ref>{{cite news|author=Hetal Vyas |title=Shocked HC files suo-motu PIL over ashram rape and deaths |url=http://www.punemirror.in/index.aspx?page=article&sectid=3&contentid=20090131200901310511574845e815b1b&sectxslt=&pageno=1 |work=PuneMirror |date=31 January 2009 |access-date=2009-03-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718051831/http://www.punemirror.in/index.aspx?page=article&sectid=3&contentid=20090131200901310511574845e815b1b&sectxslt=&pageno=1 |archive-date=2011-07-18 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title=Lok Biradari Prakalp | url=http://www.lokbiradariprakalp.org/ | publisher=Lok Biradari Prakalp | year=2009 | access-date=2009-03-17}}</ref>

==In the West==
A number of ashrams have been established outside India. Typically, these ashrams are connected to Indian lineages,<ref>{{Cite web |title=200 hours Yoga teacher training course in Rishikesh India |url=https://www.rishikeshyogastudycenter.com/200-hour-yoga-teacher-training-in-rishikesh-enroll-now |access-date=2018-04-23 |website=yogadaindia.com}}</ref> focus on imparting [[Yoga]]-related teachings, often in [[Yoga tourism|residential retreats]], and are headed by spiritual teachers (Indians or Western).
==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Sabarmati-Ashram-8.jpg|[[Sabarmati Ashram]], where [[Mahatma Gandhi]] stayed.
File:Sevagram Ashram .jpg|Sevagram Ashram
File:Inside Gandhiji Ashram, Seva Gram.jpg|Ashram with folk architectural elements with wood and bamboo roof.
File:Gandhiji's room @ gandhi ashram.JPG|Arshram in Sabarmati 
File:Sabarmati Ashram during Dwaraka DWARASPDB 2015 (14).jpg|Sabarmati Ashram with folk architectural elements; stone floors and wood and lime-plaster walls.
File:Refurbished roof of the Kutir of Maganlaal gandhiji at Sabarmati ashram , ahamadaabad.jpg|Wooden rafters in ashram 
File:Hut inside Gandhi Ashram.JPG|Small ashram hut in Sabramati 
File:Gandhi Aashram.JPG|Ashram at Sabramati with verandha
File:Acharjya Binoba Bhabe 's kutira at Sabaramati Ashram , Gandhi memorial , Ahamadabad.jpg|Acharjya Binoba Bhabe's kutira at Sabaramati Ashram
File:Ashrams on the banks of Ganges, Rishikesh.jpg|[[Sivananda Ashram]], [[Rishikesh]], the headquarters of [[Divine Life Society]], founded by [[Sivananda Saraswati]] in 1936
File:Kailash Ashram, Muni Ki Reti, Rishikesh.jpg|Kailash Ashram, [[Muni Ki Reti]], [[Rishikesh]], established by [[Dhanraj Giri]]
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Sivananda Ashram]]
*[[Dhanraj Giri]]
*[[Parbrahm Ashram]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Ashrams}}
*{{wiktionary-inline|Yogada Ashram}}
*{{wiktionary-inline|Rishikesh}}

{{Worship in Hinduism}}

[[Category:Ashrams| ]]
[[Category:Asceticism]]
[[Category:Hindu architecture]]
[[Category:Hindu monasticism]]