Rishi · Acharya · Bhakti · Alvar · Nayanar · Yogi-Siddha · Tantric · Lingayat · Modern Guru
Vedic seers — composers and revealers of the Vedas (Vasishtha, Vishvamitra, Atri, Bhrigu, Kashyapa, Agastya, Bharadvaja).
Philosopher-founders and head teachers of Vedanta schools.
Devotional poet-saints of medieval India (Mirabai, Tulsidas, Surdas, Kabir, Tukaram, Namdev, Eknath).
Traditions devoted to Vishnu and his avatars (Rama, Krishna) — the four Vaishnava sampradayas, the Alvars, and the bhakti poet-saints.
Twelve Vaishnava poet-saints of Tamil Nadu (Nammalvar, Andal, Periyalvar, ...).
Traditions centred on Shiva as the supreme — including Shaiva Siddhanta, Kashmir Shaivism, Pashupata and Lingayat streams.
Sixty-three Shaiva poet-saints of Tamil Nadu (Appar, Sambandar, Sundarar, Manikkavasagar).
Nath yogis, 18 Tamil Siddhars, Hatha and Kriya lineages (Gorakhnath, Matsyendranath, Agastyar, Tirumular).
Saiva, Shakta, and Kashmiri tantric masters (Abhinavagupta, Lalleshwari).
The Goddess-centred stream of Hinduism — worship of Devi/Shakti through the Devi Mahatmya, the Shakti Peethas and Sri Vidya upasana.
Sharana tradition founded by Basavanna in 12th-century Karnataka.
Followers of smriti who worship five deities (Panchayatana) as forms of one Brahman, closely linked to Advaita and the Shankara mathas.
19th–21st century spiritual masters (Ramakrishna, Vivekananda, Ramana Maharshi, Aurobindo, Yogananda, Chinmayananda).
Nirguna Bhakti tradition — formless devotion to the one God, voiced by Kabir, Guru Nanak, Dadu Dayal, Ravidas and other sants of North India.
Keepers and expounders of the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Puranas — the kathavachaks and pravachan tradition.
who travel here and there without permanent place of living
