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Ganga Maa (Tiruvannamalai)

Modern Advaita

  • Living
  • based in Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Website ↗

Teaching

Self-knowledge through self-enquiry, with Arunachala and Ramana Maharshi as her reference: in question-and-answer satsangs she points to the root of the 'I'-thought, to being aware of the one who thinks rather than following thoughts, and to the stillness she calls the Self. 1, 4, 5, 10

Who it is for

For people drawn to Ramana Maharshi's self-enquiry who want to sit in a satsang in Tiruvannamalai, or to read and watch its questions and answers from a distance.

Life and places
  • According to the description of her book, a life-long hunger for Self-realisation drew her to Tiruvannamalai, to Arunachala and Ramana Maharshi, and she now presides over satsangs at the foot of Arunachala. 8, 9
  • Her trust also serves free meals to workers, renunciates and visitors on Girivalam, the walk around Arunachala. 6, 11

Where to start

  • The dialogue of 5 August 2023 from Silent Presence, Vol. 1, which her trust and the book's editor David Godman publish online: a conversation on how to practise self-enquiry. 8, 10
  • The short video excerpts on her trust's website, with subtitles in several languages, for example Who Am I? (about seven minutes). 3, 4
  • Jnana Ganga, a free booklet of 101 short sayings attributed to her, with an introduction by Subbu Venkatkrishnan; her trust offers it for download in English and six other languages. 2, 7
Public context
  • Her trust quotes her as saying that she does not consider herself a guru, nor anyone else her devotee or disciple, and that she sees everyone as devotees and disciples of Arunachala and Sri Ramana. 1
  • Silent Presence, Vol. 1, with edited dialogues from July 2022 to January 2024, was edited by David Godman and published by her trust; at her request it is not sold through bookshops or for profit. French, Italian and Tamil editions have followed. 2, 8, 9

Documented teaching relationships

  • Teaching influenced by Ramana Maharshi

    Ganga Maa's trust quotes her as seeing everyone as devotees and disciples of Arunachala and Sri Ramana, and the description of her book says she was drawn to Tiruvannamalai by the power and grace of Arunachala and Sri Ramana Maharshi.

    Self-reported · hridayakshetram.org , davidgodman.org

Teaching relationships are documented statements. They confer no trust and do not attest realisation.

Sources
  1. Hridaya Kshetram Website of the Hridaya Kshetram Spiritual and Charitable Trust, her organisation; quotes her on the satsang and gives the satsang times. accessed 19 Oct 2026
  2. Publications · Hridaya Kshetram Publications page of her trust: Silent Presence and its translations, Jnana Ganga in seven languages. accessed 19 Oct 2026
  3. Audio/Video · Hridaya Kshetram Her trust's list of 22 short video excerpts from satsangs, with subtitles in several languages. accessed 19 Oct 2026
  4. Who Am I? · Hridaya Kshetram Video excerpt from a satsang (6:56) on her trust's website; the page is dated 2 November 2024, the video was uploaded to the trust's own Vimeo account on 15 November 2024, with the trust's English subtitles; heard in full through our transcript. accessed 19 Oct 2026
  5. The stillness is the Self · Hridaya Kshetram Video excerpt from a satsang (10:07) on her trust's website, published 26 July 2026 on the trust's own Vimeo account with the trust's English subtitles; heard in full through our transcript. accessed 19 Oct 2026
  6. Activities · Hridaya Kshetram Her trust's photo pages with captions: satsang, publications, free meals, festivals, garden and the construction of the new satsang hall. accessed 19 Oct 2026
  7. Jnana Ganga (PDF) Free booklet of 101 sayings attributed to her, published by her trust, with an introduction by Subbu Venkatkrishnan; read in full. accessed 19 Oct 2026
  8. Silent Presence, Vol. 1 Satsang with Ganga Maa · Hridaya Kshetram Publications Publisher's page of her trust for the book, with its description and the dialogue of 5 August 2023 as a book preview. accessed 19 Oct 2026
  9. Silent Presence: Satsang with Ganga Maa, Vol Book page of its editor David Godman, who sells it outside India; names editor, publisher and page count. Involved in the project, not an independent assessment. accessed 19 Oct 2026
  10. Silent Presence, Satsang with Ganga Maa Vol. 1 · David Godman Excerpt from the book published by its editor David Godman on 10 July 2024: the dialogue of 5 August 2023 on self-enquiry; read in full. accessed 19 Oct 2026
  11. Ganga Maa & Hridaya Kshetram · ArunachalaShiva Visitor guide of an independent website about Tiruvannamalai, drawing on the trust's website and the invitation to the opening of the new ashram; last updated 11 October 2026. accessed 19 Oct 2026

Compiled by us from the sources listed. Last checked 19 Oct 2026.

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E-mails about gatherings with Ganga Maa (Tiruvannamalai): coming soon.