Vairāgis
By Swami Harshananda
Vairāgis literally means ‘persons of renunciation’.
Vairāgīs or bairāgīs are religious ascetics of any of the Vaiṣṇava orders. They wear white clothes and apply urdhvapuṇḍra[1] on their foreheads, made of white clay and red pigment. They generally wear their hair as a crown and may also grow beard. There are several sects and sub-sects among them.
References[edit]
- ↑ Urdhvapuṇḍra means vertical religious mark.
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore