Babas, Ammas, Sris and All Trivia Quiz

Answer: Kerala

Baselios Geevarghese I was also affectionately called Vallikattu Bava or Karuchira Bava. He was born in Kottayam, which is a district in the southern Indian state of Kerala, where Malayalam is spoken widely. He died in Kerala in the year 1928 and is buried in the Vallikattu Dayara, which is a Christian monastery in Kerala.

He is widely considered as a saint to his followers, and his tomb is frequented by many pilgrims. He assumed the name Baselios Geevarghese I after he was ordained as the Catholicos of the East.

Answer: Puducherry

Sri Aurobindo was born in 1872 in what is now called Kolkatta, in the Indian state of West Bengal. He later went on to study at King's College in Cambridge, after which he returned to India during the British rule. He was imprisoned in India for writing anti-British articles and was generally very involved in the Independence movement in India.

He lived his later years in Pondicherry, where he dropped his interest in politics and began his spiritual endeavors. During his years in Pondicherry, Aurobindo became a pioneer of 'integral yoga' which he envisioned as a method to achieve self-perfection by unlocking the potentials hidden within oneself.

He established the Sri Aurobindo Ashram which stands till this day in Pondicherry with Mirra Alfassa (commonly known as 'The Mother').

He was considered for the Nobel Prizes in Literature and Peace during his lifetime. He died in Pondicherry, and his teachings and thoughts have influenced many great people in India and around the world. There is an experimental township called Auroville in India that is dedicated to the vision and teachings of Sri Aurobindo.

Answer: Jainism

Virchand Gandhi was a Jain preacher and scholar. He was born in Gujarat. Virchand was widely regarded as one of the greatest Jain scholars, and was very active in fighting on behalf of the Jain people. He was a friend to Mahatma Gandhi. He travelled out of India on numerous occasions to give lectures, mostly on Jainism, and also on philosophy and other religions.

He established the Gandhi Philosophical Society. In the early 2000s, the Indian Postal Service created a stamp with his image on it.

Answer: Canada

Baba Hardev Singh, who was affectionately called Nirankari Baba, died in Canada after a car accident on 13 May, 2016. He was a spiritual leader who was revered by many in India. He was the leader of the Sant Nirankari Mission, which is a spiritual organisation in India dedicated to human welfare without being affiliated to any single religion.

It was earlier associated with Sikhism, but later its affiliation was distanced from any single religion. He became its leader after its previous leader (his father) was assassinated and Baba Nirankari's wife became its leader after his death.

Answer: Mother Meera

Mother Meera was born in the Indian state of Telangana. She wss considered by some to be an incarnation of the Divine Mother, a goddess in Hinduism. She moved to Germany in the 1980s, where she started receiving visitors from all over the world to get darshan, which is literally translated as 'seeing a holy person and be blessed'.

She was not affiliated with any religion but believed there is oneness in all religions. Her thoughts and teachings are close to that of Sri Aurobindo.

Answer: Buddhist

Kaundinya lived in the 6th century BCE. He was a Buddhist monk and staunch follower of Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as Buddha. He is in fact considered as the first disciple of Buddha. He was initially a brahmin Hindu, but later renounced the world and followed the ways of Buddhism.

He is considered to be the first person to achieve arahanthood. An arha, according to Buddhism, is a person who has achieved perfection or is far advanced along the path of Enlightenment. Kaundinya travelled with Buddha to many parts of ancient India spreading the teachings of Buddhism.

Answer: Tiger Swami

Soham Swami was said to have such immense physical strength that he could battle with tigers, and thus he came to be known as Tiger Swami. He was a spiritual guru and yogi who established a couple of ashrams in India like the Soham Ashram and another one in Nainital.

The 'Soham Samhita' was written by him and contains his teachings. His other works include 'Soham Gita'. He was born with the name Shyamakanta and later adopted the title Soham Swami after he became a monk.

Answer: She was murdered

Mariam Vattalil, also known as Rani Maria, was beatified in November 2017 in the Indian city of Indore. Rani Maria was a Christian social worker who worked for the welfare of the poor and downtrodden. She was brutally murdered by Samundar Singh while travelling in a bus, due to her work amongst the lesser privileged people. Samundar Singh was arrested, but Rani Maria's family and other nuns gave him their forgiveness.

He was released from prison and was allowed to attend her beatification after he was pardoned by the family of Rani Maria.

Answer: Jainism

Lord Mahavira is also known as Vardhamana. He is considered to be the 24th tirthankara. A tirthankara, according to Jainism, is a teacher of the righteous path, also known as dharma. The exact chronology of his birth has not been determined and he is considered to be part of the 5th century or 6th century BC, according to various historians.

His teachings of the Jain philosophy revolved around observing aparigraha or non-attachment, ahimsa or non-violence, satya or truth, brahmacharya or purity/chastity and asteya or non-stealing.

His birthday is celebrated as Mahavir Jayanthi in India. There are many temples dedicated to Lord Mahavir in India like the Muchhal Mahavir Temple in Rajasthan.

Answer: Sai Baba

Sai Baba of Shridi (Shirdi Sai Baba) is revered by millions of Indians all over the world as the incarnation of Lord Shiva. He died in what is now known as Maharashtra in India in the year 1918. He is considered as a deity by many of his devotees, and others consider him a saint. Sai Baba was against caste system beliefs and also renounced love for material objects.

His teaching drew inspiration from both Hinduism and Islam. There are many temples in India devoted to Sai Baba, like the Sai Baba temple in Shirdi.