Maharishi (noun, mah-huh-ree-shee) is the anglicized version of the Sanskrit word Maharshi महर्षि (mahā meaning "great" and ṛṣi meaning "seer"). Maharishi is often used as an addition to a person's name as an honorary title. The term was first seen in modern English literature in the 18th century .

Maharishi may refer to a Hindu guru or "spiritual teacher" of "mystical knowledge". Additional meanings cited by dictionaries include: sage, poet, spiritual leader, wise man and holy man.

Alternate meanings describe Maharishi as a collective name that refers to the seven rishis or saptarishis (including Maharishi Bhrigu) cited in the scriptures of Rig Veda and the Puranas, or any of the several mythological seers that are referenced in Vedic writings and associated with the seven stars of the constellation Ursa Major.

Maharishi may refer to any individual who has added the title to their name. According to Brewers Dictionaary, outside of India, the most well known Maharishi was Maharishi Mahesh Yogi who founded Transcendental Meditation and made it available to the West.

Brahmasri Chaganti Koteswara Rao (Telugu: చాగంటి కోటేశ్వరరావు) is a scholar-speaker on the Sanathana Dharma. Born to Chaganti Sundara Siva Rao and Suseelamma, he married Subramanyeswari with whom he has two children. He works for the Food Corporation of India, Kakinada but also gives spiritual discourses. His discourses are regularly telecast in TV channels like Bhakti TV and SVBC.

Koteswara Rao is a silent reader of puranas and has oratory skills. He started giving pravachan on puranas extempore and has had a unique perspective and command on various Purnanas, epics like Srimad Ramayanam and Srimad Bhagavatham; as well as devotional hymns like Soundarya Lahari and Lalitha Sahasranama. He has delivered discourses for 42 days continuously at Guntur on Sampoorna Ramayanam during 2009, Srimad Bhagavatham for 42 days during 2006, Shiva Maha Puranam for 30 days during 2007 and Sree Lalitha Sahasranama Stothram for about 45 days during 2008. He gives his discourses in Telugu interspersing it with little English.

Koteswara Rao was a retired principal of the Regional Engineering College at Warangal which is now National Institute of Technology, Warangal

Rao was born in Sangamjagrlamudi, a small village located near Tenali,Andhrapradesh. He pursued a degree in civil engineering from a college in Guindy, Madras in 1947, graduating in 1951.

He applied for post of junior lecturer at Andhra University in 1955 and later engaged in post graduate studies and pursued his masters at the University of Iowa in 1960. Three years later he completed a PhD.

Rao was appointed as a principal of the Regional Engineering College at Warangal (RECW), and was principal during its transition to National Institute of Technology, Warangal in 1986.

He was also appointed as a member of the committee to enhance the quality of graduation in engineering.^{[citation needed]} The committee advised the government on the national regulatory exam for graduate entrance, the Graduate Aptitude Test for Engineers.

Sri Ramana Maharshi (Tamil: ரமண மஹரிஷி) (December 30, 1879 – April 14, 1950), born Venkataraman Iyer, was a Hindu spiritual master ("jnani"). He was born to a Tamil-speaking Brahmin family in Tiruchuzhi, Tamil Nadu. After experiencing at age 16 what he later described as liberation (moksha), he left home for Arunachala, a mountain considered sacred by Hindus. He lived at the mountain for the rest of his life. Although born a Brahmin, he declared himself an "Atiasrami", a Sastraic state of non-attachment to anything in life and beyond all caste restrictions. The ashram that grew around him, Sri Ramana Ashram, is situated at the foothill of Arunchala, to the west to the pilgrimage town of Tiruvannamalai.

Sri Ramana Maharshi maintained that the purest form of his teachings was the powerful silence which radiated from his presence and quieted the minds of those attuned to it. He gave verbal teachings only for the benefit of those who could not understand his silence (or, perhaps, could not understand how to attain the silent state). His verbal teachings were said to flow from his direct experience of Atman as the only existing reality. When asked for advice, he recommended self-enquiry as the fastest path to moksha. Though his primary teaching is associated with Non-dualism, Advaita Vedanta, and Jnana yoga, he recommended Bhakti to those he saw were fit for it, and gave his approval to a variety of paths and practices.

Gurmeet Kaur Rai (born June 20, 1970) is a retired female javelin thrower from India. She set her personal best (58.64 metres) on July 17, 2000 at a meet in Bangalore.