Famous Indian Saints

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 1 
Mother Teresa
(Roman Catholic Nun, Founder and Active Member of the ‘Missionaries of Charity’)
Mother Teresa
18
Birthdate: August 26, 1910
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Skopje, North Macedonia
Died: September 5, 1997

An Albanian-Indian Roman Catholic nun and a missionary, Mother Teresa was the founder of Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic religious congregation. She was both an admired and controversial figure and was the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. While she was admired by many for her charitable work, she also earned criticism for her stance against abortion and contraception.

 2 
Tukaram
(Saint, Poet)
Tukaram
5
Birthdate: 1608 AD
Birthplace: Dehu, Near Pune, India
Died: 1650 AD

Marathi poet Sant Tukaram was one of the pillars of the Bhakti movement of Maharashtra. It is believed he began writing abhangas, or religious poetry, after being visited by Vitthal, an avatar of Lord Vishnu and Lord Krishna, in a dream. He is revered by the Varkari sampradaya.

 3 
Agastya
(Saint)
Agastya
5
Birthplace: India

Rishi Agastya, one of the Saptarishi, appears in the Puranas and is said to have authored texts such as the Agastya Gita. Legend has it that the Vindhya range lies flat as Agastya had asked it to lie flat till he got back from the South, and then never returned.

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 4 
Sarada Devi
(Saint)
Sarada Devi
5
Birthdate: December 22, 1853
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Joyrambati, Bengal, British India
Died: July 20, 1920
 5 
Gorakhnath
(Hindu Yogi)
Gorakhnath
3
Birthplace: Jais
 6 
Samarth Ramdas
(Indian Hindu Saint, Philosopher, Poet, Writer and Spiritual Master)
Samarth Ramdas
3
Birthdate: 1608 AD
Birthplace: Maharashtra, India
Died: 1681 AD

Samarth Ramdas was an Indian saint, poet, writer, philosopher, and spiritual master. He worked towards resurrecting the Hindu culture after it was impaired by several foreign invasions in India. He also worked towards promoting and preserving the Maratha culture. He also supported the participation of women in social and religious work, which was uncommon at that time.

 7 
Sivananda Saraswati
(Yoga Guru, Hindu Spiritual Teacher, and a Proponent of Vedanta)
Sivananda Saraswati
3
Birthdate: September 8, 1887
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Pattamadai, Tamil Nadu, India
Died: July 14, 1963

Swami Sivananda was an Indian yoga guru and spiritual teacher. Sivananda was working as a physician before embracing monasticism. He is credited with founding a spiritual organization called the Divine Life Society (DLS) which currently has branches around the world. His disciple Vishnudevananda popularized a spiritual yoga system which is named after Swami Sivananda.

 8 
Eknath
(Indian Hindu Saint, Philosopher and Poet)
Eknath
4
Birthdate: 1533 AD
Birthplace: Paithan, India
Died: 1599 AD

Sant Eknath was an Indian Hindu saint, philosopher, and poet who lived in the 16th-century. A devotee of the Hindu deity Krishna, he is considered a major figure of the Warkari tradition. Hindu scholars often view him as a spiritual successor to the prominent Marathi saints Dnyaneshwar and Namdev. He wrote a variation of the Hindu religious text Bhagavata Purana.  

 9 
Ramananda
(Indian Devotional Poet and Saint)
Ramananda
6
Birthdate: 1380 AD
Birthplace: Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India
Died: 1475 AD

Ramananda was a 14th-century Vaishnava devotional poet-saint who lived in India. He is considered the founder of the Bairagi Sampradaya, popularly known as the Ramanandi Sect. He was a pioneering figure of the Bhakti movement and an early social reformer. Unlike many other saints of his era, he accepted disciples without any caste or gender discrimination. 

 10 
Sadhu Sundar Singh
(Missionary)
Sadhu Sundar Singh
4
Birthdate: September 3, 1889
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Punjab, India
Died: 1929 AD
 11 
Nizamuddin Auliya
(One of the Famous Sufis from the South Asian Subcontinent)
Nizamuddin Auliya
4
Birthdate: October 9, 1238
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Budaun, India
Died: April 3, 1325

Nizamuddin Auliya was an Indian Sunni Muslim scholar and Sufi saint of the Chishti Order. He stressed love as a means of realizing God and believed that love of God implies love of humanity. He is considered one of the most famous Sufis from the Indian Subcontinent. His teachings were marked by an evolved sense of religious pluralism and kindness. 

 12 
Devadatta
(Indian Buddhist Monk)
Devadatta
2
Birthplace: India
 13 
Arishtanemi
(Jain Saint)
Arishtanemi
2
Birthplace: Sauripura (Dvaraka), Dwarika
 14 
Nammalvar
(Saint)
Nammalvar
2
Birthdate: 3059 AD
Birthplace: Alwarthirunagari, India
 15 
Matsyendra
(Indian Religious leader)
Matsyendra
2
Birthplace: Kamarupa, India
 16 
Mahan Mj
(Indian Mathematician and Monk of the Ramakrishna Order)
Mahan Mj
2
Birthdate: April 5, 1968
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: India

Mahan Mj is an Indian monk and mathematician who is currently teaching mathematics at the prestigious Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. Renowned for his work in geometric group theory, hyperbolic geometry, complex geometry, and low-dimensional topology, Mahan Mj has received several awards, such as the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award and the 2015 Infosys Prize.

 17 
Basava
(Indian Saint, Philosophers, Poet, Theologian and Social Reformer During the Reign of the Kalyani Chalukya)
Basava
5
Birthdate: 1131 AD
Birthplace: Basavan Bagewadi, India
Died: 1196 AD

Basava was an Indian poet, philosopher, social reformer, statesman, and saint who lived in the 12th century AD. He is credited with spreading social awareness through his poems. Although hagiographic texts and traditional legends claim that Basava founded Lingayatism, modern scholars believe that he refined and popularized the already existing religious tradition, which is popular in Karnataka, South India.

 18 
Ravidas
(Poet)
Ravidas
5
Birthdate: 1377 AD
Birthplace: Varanasi, India
Died: 1520 AD

Ravidas was an Indian mystic, social reformer, poet-saint, and spiritual figure. An influential personality, Ravidas taught his followers to disregard social divisions of gender and caste that were prevalent in India at that time. The Ravidassia sect, a religious sect of Vaishnavism, is based on Ravidas' teachings. Ravidas is revered even today as a saint by his followers.

 19 
Jnanadeva
(Poet)
Jnanadeva
5
Birthdate: 1275 AD
Birthplace: Alandi, India
Died: 1296 AD

Jnanadeva was an Indian poet, philosopher, saint, and yogi who lived in the 13th century AD. He is credited with authoring Dnyaneshwari, the oldest surviving work in the Marathi language. He is also credited with co-founding the Varkari Bhakti movement tradition of Hinduism. Over the years, Jnanadeva's legacy has inspired several saint-poets, including Tukaram and Eknath.  

 20 
Asaṅga
(Indian Philosopher and Monk)
Asaṅga
1
Birthdate: 0300 AD
Birthplace: Peshawar, Pakistan
Died: 0370 AD

Fourth-century Buddhist philosopher Asaṅga is remembered for establishing the Yogācāra school of idealism. Though born to a high-caste Purusapura court priest, he himself turned to the Mahāyāna tradition of Buddhism and later contributed immensely to the Vijñānavāda, or the Doctrine of Consciousness. Mahāyāna-saṃgraha remains one of his best-known works.

 21 
Bahinabai
(Indian Poet and Saint)
Bahinabai
1
Birthdate: 1628 AD
Birthplace: Maharashtra, India
Died: October 2, 1700

Bahinabai was a renowned Varkari saint from Maharashtra and a disciple of Sant Tukaram. At 5, she was married off to a 30-year-old widower and was herself widowed early. Though illiterate, she evoked a variety of emotions through her oral abhangas, often written down by her son, Sopandev Chaudhari

 22 
Dignāga
(Indian Buddhist Scholar and One of the Buddhist Founders of Indian Logic)
Dignāga
2
Birthdate: 0480 AD
Birthplace: India
Died: 0540 AD

Founder of Buddhist epistemology and reasoning, Dignāga is best known for his magnum opus, Compendium of the Means of True Knowledge (Pramāṇa-samuccaya). Composed in highly elliptical verse format, the treaty laid the foundation of Buddhist logic, influencing Buddhist scholars in India and Tibet for centuries to come, also exerting great influence on Hindu thinkers of the Nyaya School

 23 
Azan Faqir
(Poet)
Azan Faqir
1
Birthdate: April 7, 1610
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Baghdad, Iraq
 24 
Namdev
(Poet)
Namdev
4
Birthdate: October 26, 1270
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Narasi, India
Died: July 3, 1350

Namdev was an Indian saint and poet best remembered for his devotion to Lord Vitthal of Pandharpur. He is credited with popularizing the Vithoba faith, which first emerged in the 12th century. Along with Ravidas, Kabir, Hardas, and Dadu, Namdev is revered as a guru (teacher) in the Dadupanth tradition of Hinduism.

 25 
Moggaliputta-Tissa
(Buddhist monk)
Moggaliputta-Tissa
1
Birthdate: 0327 AD
Birthplace: Pataliputra, India
Died: 0247 AD
 26 
Parshvanatha
(Saint)
Parshvanatha
3
Birthdate: 0872 AD
Birthplace: Varanasi, India
Died: 0772 AD
 27 
Thiruppaan Alvar
(poet-saint)
Thiruppaan Alvar
0
Birthdate: 2760 AD
Birthplace: Woraiyur, Tiruchirappalli

Thiruppaan Alvar, one of the greatest azhwar saints and Vaishnava musicians of Southern India, was born into the Paanar community of musicians, who were social outcasts to some extent. Also known as Paanar Perumal, he composed the iconic Amalan Adhipiraan, dedicated to Lord Srirangam Ranganathaswamy.

 28 
Paramārtha
(Buddhist missionary and translator)
Paramārtha
1
Birthdate: 0499 AD
Birthplace: Ujjain
Died: 0569 AD
 29 
Vedanayakam Samuel Azariah
(Evangelist)
Vedanayakam Samuel Azariah
0
Birthdate: August 17, 1874
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Vellalanvillai, India
Died: January 1, 1945
 30 
Vajrabodhi
(Missionary)
Vajrabodhi
0
Birthdate: 0671 AD
Birthplace: India
Died: 0741 AD
 31 
Bhāviveka
(Philosopher)
Bhāviveka
0
Birthdate: 0500 AD
Birthplace: India
Died: 0578 AD
 32 
Lalleshwari
(Hindu Saint)
Lalleshwari
2
Birthdate: 1320 AD
Birthplace: Kashmir, India
Died: 1392 AD

Lalleshwari was a 14th-century Kashmiri mystic. She belonged to the Kashmir Shaivism school of philosophy and originated the style of mystic poetry called vatsun or vakhs. Her works have a significant place in the history of Kashmiri literature. She was known by several aliases, including Lal Ded, Lal Dyad, Lal Diddi, and Lalla Yogishwari/Yogeshwari. 

 33 
Dadu Dayal
(Hindu saint)
Dadu Dayal
3
Birthdate: 1544 AD
Birthplace: Ahmadabad, India
Died: 1603 AD

Legend has it that Dadu Dayal was found floating in the Sabarmati river by a rich businessman named Lodhi Ram. Dadu initially worked as a cotton carder but later became a religious preacher who rejected Vedic superiority and caste barriers. He founded Dadu Panth and wrote countless devotional hymns.

 34 
Ramprasad Sen
(Poet-saint)
Ramprasad Sen
2
Birthdate: 1718 AD
Birthplace: Halisahar, near Calcutta, Bengal, India
Died: 1775 AD

Eighteenth-century Bengali poet Ramprasad Sen was one of the finest Hindu Shakta poets, whose works mirrored his devotion to goddess Shakti. Starting his career as an accountant of an affluent Kolkata employer, he later became court poet of Raja Krishnachandra and wrote Bidyasundar, which mixed Tantric elements and eroticism.

 35 
Freda Bedi
(British woman who was jailed in India as a supporter of Indian nationalism)
Freda Bedi
2
Birthdate: February 5, 1911
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Derby, England
Died: March 26, 1977
 36 
Gonsalo Garcia
(Lay brother of the Franciscans from Portuguese Bombay and Bassein in early modern India)
Gonsalo Garcia
0
Birthdate: 1556 AD
Birthplace: Bassein, India
Died: February 5, 1597
 37 
Bhadrabahu
(Religious leader)
Bhadrabahu
2
Birthdate: 0367 AD
Birthplace: Pundravardhana, India
Died: 0298 AD
 38 
Gurumayi Chidvilasananda
(Indian Guru and Head of Siddha Yoga Whose Notable Works Include 'Kindle My Heart')
Gurumayi Chidvilasananda
0
Birthdate: June 24, 1955
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Mangalore, Karnataka, India
 39 
Haribhadra
(Indian author)
Haribhadra
0
Birthdate: 0459 AD
Birthplace: Cittaur, India
Died: 0529 AD
 40 
Abhishiktananda
(French monk who, having moved to India in 1948)
Abhishiktananda
0
Birthdate: August 30, 1910
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Saint Briac, Brittany, France
Died: December 7, 1973
 41 
Nuruddin ar-Raniri
(Islamic mystic and scholar from Rander in Surat province)
Nuruddin ar-Raniri
0
Birthplace: Gujarat, India
Died: 1658 AD
 42 
Ātmārāmjī
(Jain reformer and monk)
Ātmārāmjī
0
Birthdate: 1836 AD
Birthplace: Punjab
Died: November 30, 1895