Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

and

Sikhism Sikhism (), also known as Sikhi ( pa, ਸਿੱਖੀ ', , from pa, ਸਿੱਖ, lit=disciple', 'seeker', or 'learner, translit=Sikh, label=none),''Sikhism'' (commonly known as ''Sikhī'') originated from the word ''Sikh'', which comes fro ...

, a samadhi () or samadhi mandir is a temple, shrine, or memorial commemorating the dead (similar to a

tomb A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a :wikt:repository, repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be ...

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...

), which may or may not contain the body of the deceased. Samadhi sites are often built in this way to honour people regarded as saints or gurus in Hindu religious traditions, wherein such souls are said to have passed into '' mahāsamādhi'', or were already in ''

samadhi ''Samadhi'' (Pali and sa, समाधि), in Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools, is a state of meditative consciousness. In Buddhism, it is the last of the eight elements of the Noble Eightfold Path. In the Ashtanga Yoga ...

'' (a state of meditative consciousness) at the time of death. Ancient-Indian-Architecture

In Sikhism, the term "samadhi" is used for the mausoleums of eminent figures, both religious and political. Examples include the

Samadhi of Ranjit Singh The Samadhi of Ranjit Singh ( pa, , ਰਣਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਦੀ ਸਮਾਧੀ ; ) is a 19th-century building in Lahore, Pakistan that houses the funerary urns of the Sikh Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1780 – 1839). It is located adjacen ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

, and that of Maharaja

Sher Singh Sher Singh (4 December 1807 – 15 September 1843) was the fourth Maharaja of the Sikh Empire. Elder of the twins of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, founder of the Sikh Empire and Maharani Mehtab Kaur. His reign began on 18 January 1840 following his ...

near Lahore. Hindu equivalents are usually called ''

chatri ''Chhatri'' are elevated, dome-shaped pavilions used as an element in Indo-Islamic architecture and Indian architecture. Originating as a canopy above tombs, they serve as decorative elements. The earliest example of chhatri being used in the ...

'', although those for

Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederation that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of Shi ...

figures also often use "samadhi". The forms of structure called "samadhi" vary greatly. The word is sometimes used for a memorial

stele A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...

, also called

paliya The Paliya or Khambhi is a type of a memorial found in the western regions of the India subcontinent, especially Saurashtra and Kutch regions of Gujarat and also in Sindh region of Pakistan. They mostly commemorates the death of a person. These ...

, a type of

hero stone A hero stone (Vīragallu in Kannada, Naṭukal in Tamil) is a memorial commemorating the honorable death of a hero in battle. Erected between the second half of the first millennium BC and the 18th century AD, hero stones are found all over India ...

once common in parts of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

and

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

. It may be used for small memorial buildings such as open

, often placed around a temple. The tradition of India is

cremation Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a Cadaver, dead body through Combustion, burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India ...

for most Hindu people at the time of death, while samadhi is generally reserved for very advanced souls, such as yogis and saints, who have already been "purified by the fire of yoga"Georg Feuerstein, ''The Encyclopedia of Yoga and Tantra'' (Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2011 ), p. 308. or who are believed to have been in the state of ''samadhi'' at the time of death. Samadhi usually involves

inhumation Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

rather than cremation.

Examples

One of the popular site of pilgrimage in India is the town of

Alandi Alandi (Marathi pronunciation: ːɭən̪d̪iː is a town and a municipal council in the Pune district in the state of Maharashtra, India. The town is popular as a place of pilgrimage and the resting place of the 8th century Marathi saint ...

in the state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

where the 13th century

Varkari Warkari (Marathi: वारकरी; Pronunciation: �aːɾkəɾiː Meaning: 'The one who performs the ''Wari) is a sampradaya (religious movement) within the bhakti spiritual tradition of Hinduism, geographically associated with the Indi ...

saint

Dnyaneshwar Sant Dnyaneshwar (Marathi pronunciation: ̪ɲaːn̪eʃʋəɾ, also referred to as Jnaneshwar, Jnanadeva, Dnyandev or Mauli or Dnyaneshwar Vitthal Kulkarni (1275–1296), was a 13th-century Indian Marathi saint, poet, philosopher and yogi of ...

took Sanjivan Samadhi or entombed himself in the state of Samadhi. His devotees believe that he is still alive. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (d. 1977) the founder of

ISKCON The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement or Hare Krishnas, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava Hindu religious organization. ISKCON was founded in 1966 in New York City by A. C. Bhaktive ...

(known as the "Hare Krishna Movement"), is commemorated with a large Samadhi Mandir in

Mayapur Mayapur () is a neighbourhood of Bamanpukur, in the Nabadwip CD block in the Krishnanagar Sadar subdivision of the Nadia district in the state of West Bengal, India. It is situated adjacent to Nabadwip, at the confluence of two rivers, where ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

. File:Kanhoji Angre Samadhi - कान्होजी आंग्रे समाधी 1.JPG, Samadhi of the

Maratha The Marathi people (Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a M ...

admiral

Kanhoji Angre Kanhoji Angre (Marathi: कान्होजी आंग्रे, Help:IPA/Marathi, anʱod͡ʒiː aːŋɡɾe, also known as Conajee Angria or Sarkhel Angré (August 1669 – 4 July 1729) was a chief of the Maratha Navy in present-day Ind ...

File:Appayya Dikshitar samadhi.jpg, Small shrine for

Appayya Dikshita Appayya Dikshita (IAST ', often "Dikshitar"), 1520–1593 CE, was a performer of yajñas as well as an expositor and practitioner of the Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy but with a focus on Shiva or Shiva Advaita. Life Appayya ...

, with

lingam A lingam ( sa, लिङ्ग , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. It is typically the primary ''murti'' or devotional im ...

Thiruvalangadu Thiruvalangadu is a village on the western suburbs of Chennai, India. The railway station is located on the Chennai-Arakkonam Route, the penultimate station before Arakkonam. Sri Vadaranyeswarar Temple is situated at a distance of 5 km fro ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

File:Changdeo samadhi 2012.jpg, Samadi with image,

File:Samadhi near chatri3.JPG,

Paliya The Paliya or Khambhi is a type of a memorial found in the western regions of the India subcontinent, especially Saurashtra and Kutch regions of Gujarat and also in Sindh region of Pakistan. They mostly commemorates the death of a person. These ...

memorials,

Bhuj Bhuj () is a Municipality and District Headquarters of Kutch District in the state of Gujarat, India. Etymology According to legend, Kutch was ruled by the Nāga chieftains in the past. Sagai, a queen of Sheshapattana, who was married to Kin ...

File:Jijamata Samadhi at Pachad, Raigadh, Maharashtra.jpg, Samadhi of

Jijabai Jijabai Bhonsle (or Bhonsale, Bhosale, Bhosle) or Jadhav (12 January 1598 – 17 June 1674), referred to as Rajmata, Rastramata, Jijabai or Jijau, was the mother of Shivaji, founder of the Maratha Empire. She was a daughter of Lakhujirao Ja ...

, the mother of the Maratha emperor Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Pachad, Raigadh, Maharashtra File:Chetak Samadhi.jpg, Memorial to Chetak, a horse who died in battle in 1576 File:Raigad Sivaji's Waghya Samadhi 01.JPG, Samadhi memorial for a royal dog,

Raigad Fort Raigad is a hill fort situated in Mahad, Raigad district of Maharashtra, India. It is one of the strongest fortresses on the Deccan Plateau. It was previously known as Rairee or Rairy fort. Many constructions and structures on Raigad were ...

References

Bibliography

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External links

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Spiritual Travel - Samadhis of the Sages
{{Asia in topic, Hinduism in Monuments and memorials in India Religious buildings and structures in India Hindu architecture Hindu practices Burial monuments and structures

Examples

See also

References

Bibliography

External links