page_title: Sadhu
section_title: Sadhu sects
hierarchical_section_title: Sadhu / Sadhu sects
caption_attribution_description: English: This is a derivative (cropped) work of painting on wikimedia commons. A woman with a Vishnu mark on her forehead, carrying a cloth bundle on her head; by an Indian artist. Iconographic Collections: Wellcome Library no. 581406i. The composition date is unknown, the source estimates it to be a 19th-century painting. Keywords: Ethnology; Culture; Ritual; India; Religion; Costume; Hinduism
context_page_description: Sadhu, also spelled saddhu, is a religious ascetic, mendicant or any holy person in Hinduism and Jainism who has renounced the worldly life. They are sometimes alternatively referred to as jogi, sannyasi or vairagi.
  Literally, it means one who practises a ″sadhana″ or keenly follows a path of spiritual discipline. Although the vast majority of sādhus are yogīs, not all yogīs are sādhus. The sādhu is solely dedicated to achieving mokṣa, the fourth and final aśrama, through meditation and contemplation of Brahman. Sādhus often wear simple clothing, such saffron-coloured clothing in Hinduism, white or nothing in Jainism, symbolising their sannyāsa. A female mendicant in Hinduism and Jainism is often called a sadhvi, or in some texts as aryika.
caption: A female sadhvi with a Vishnu mark on her forehead
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