Venkataraman Iyer, better known as Ramana Maharshi (Tiruchuzhi, December 30, 1879 - Sri Ramana Ashram, April 14, 1950), was an important Indian Hindu spiritual master. It belonged to the Vedanta doctrine adwaita ('non-dual', there are no souls and God, but souls are God). He was one of the best-known Hindu religious of the 20th century, along with Paramahansa Yogananda and Sri Aurobindo. He lived on the sacred hill of Arunachala in Tiruvannamalai (170 km from Madras) in the state of Tamil Nadu (India). The core of his teachings was the practice of atma-vichara (the inquiry of the soul).