Mandali from the Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

 mandala

Mandala

Maṇḍala is a Sanskrit word that means "circle". In the Buddhist and Hindu religious traditions their sacred art often takes a mandala form. The basic form of most Hindu and Buddhist mandalas is a square with four gates containing a circle with a center point...

meaning circle, connection, community, is a term that Meher Baba

Meher Baba

Meher Baba , , born Merwan Sheriar Irani, was an Indian mystic and spiritual master who declared publicly in 1954 that he was the Avatar of the age....

 used for his closest disciples.

Inner circle

Mandali are considered to include those close disciples that lived permanently or for extended periods with Meher Baba at his ashram

Ashram

Traditionally, an ashram is a spiritual hermitage. Additionally, today the term ashram often denotes a locus of Indian cultural activity such as yoga, music study or religious instruction, the moral equivalent of a studio or dojo....

s. However, not all of Meher Baba's mandali lived with him. According to Meher Baba the Avatar

Avatar

In Hinduism, an avatar is a deliberate descent of a deity to earth, or a descent of the Supreme Being and is mostly translated into English as "incarnation," but more accurately as "appearance" or "manifestation"....

 always has 10 concentric circles of 12 men and/or women each. The inner circle consists of 12 men plus two women, for a total of 122 mandali. But Meher Baba also said, "Those who do my work are my mandali. If we were to list their names, it would fill a volume." At another time Baba said, "By mandali I mean those who have been with me for several years, but ask for nothing... In short, I would say that the mandali means those whose intimacy I feel."

Partial list of Meher Baba's mandali

Women mandali

Mehera Irani

Mehera Irani

Mehera Jehangir Irani was Meher Baba's closest mandali . Meher Baba said she was the purest soul in the universe and that she loved him as he ought to be loved...

, Mani Irani

Mani Irani

Manija Sheriar Irani was the younger sister of Indian spiritual master Meher Baba, and one of his mandali. She was chairman of the Avatar Meher Baba Trust and the author of 82 Family Letters....

, Dr. Goher Irani, Arnavaz Dadachanji, Mansari, Meheru Irani, Naja, Korshed, Katie Irani, Rano Gayley, Kitty Davy

Kitty Davy

Kitty Davy, born Katherine Laura Davy , was a mandali of Meher Baba.Kitty Davy was born in Kensington, London, England, the daughter of John and Helena Davy. Kitty and her brother Herbert Davy first heard of Meher Baba in 1931 from Meredith Starr after visiting Starr's meditation retreat at Combe...

, Norina Matchabelli, Elizabeth Patterson, Countess Nadine Tolstoy, Delia DeLeon, Anita Vieillard.

Men mandali

Faredoon Driver

Faredoon Driver

Faredoon Nawrosjee Driver, better known as Padri, was born in Pune, India and was one of Meher Baba's close mandali . He lived with and served Meher Baba from 1922 until Meher Baba's death in 1969, beginning his stay with Baba in Baba's first ashram, Manzil-e-Meem...

 known as Padri, Eruch Jessawala

Eruch Jessawala

Eruch Byramshaw Jessawala , born in Bombay, India, was a close disciple of the silent Indian master Meher Baba, and one of his mandali. Jessawala was also the primary interpreter of Meher Baba's , and later his unique sign language.- Early life :Jessawala was born in Bombay to Zoroastrian parents,...

, Adi K. Irani, Ali Akbar Sharurzaman known as Aloba, Murli Kale, Pendu, Bal Natu, Jal Irani, Gustajee, Kalemama, Chanji, Dr. Ghani, Dr. C.D. Deshmukh, Francis Brabazon

Francis Brabazon

Francis Brabazon was an Australian poet and a member of Meher Baba's mandali.Brabazon was born in London, but moved to Australia with his family when he was still a boy. At the age of 21, Francis Brabazon embarked on a quest to discover the relationship between beauty and truth. He studied music...

, Don E. Stevens, Harry Kenmore, Bhau Kalchuri

Bhau Kalchuri

Bhau Kalchuri is an Indian author, poet, trust administrator, and one of Meher Baba's mandali . Bhau Kalchuri is also the principal biographer of Meher Baba's life....

, Quentin Tod

Quentin Tod

Quentin Tod , sometimes credited as Quentin Todd, was a British actor, dancer, choreographer, television pioneer, and a devotee of Meher Baba.- Biography :...

, Charles Purdom

Charles Purdom

Charles Benjamin Purdom, usually credited as C. B. Purdom , was a British author, drama critic, economist and editor of an English periodical called Everyman. Everyman covered books, drama, music and travel and featured articles by renowned authors such as Ivor Brown, Arthur Machen, G. K....

, William Donkin, GSN Moorthy,
Dr. H.P.Bharucha

External links

• Mandali Members
• Photos of Meher Baba's mandali by Win Coates
• mandalihall.org (Audio recordings of Meher Baba's mandali members)
• List of followers, associates and acquaintances of Meher Baba