Definition of "ashram" []

• Hinduism A usually secluded residence of a religious community and its guru. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The term ashram refers in Sanskrit to religious hermitage but nowadays often denotes a locus of Indian cultural activity, such as yoga, music study or religious instruction."
• "Today, the term ashram can refer to a community formed primarily for spiritual uplifting of its members, often headed by a religious leader or mystic."
• "Except that just outside of the ashram was a graveyard, and wandering that graveyard shouting out prayers to Shiva for his own personal reasons until sunset was a devoted older man gifted not only with loud voice that carried well, but also gifted with a bullhorn."