Alakh Niranjan is a term in Hinduism

Hinduism

Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...

 and Sikhism

Sikhism

Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world and one of the fastest-growing...

 where it is used a synonym for Creator

Creator deity

A creator deity is a deity responsible for the creation of the world . In monotheism, the single God is often also the creator deity, while polytheistic traditions may or may not have creator deities...

, and to describe the characteristics of God and the Self, known as the Atman

Atman (Hinduism)

Ātman is a Sanskrit word that means 'self'. In Hindu philosophy, especially in the Vedanta school of Hinduism it refers to one's true self beyond identification with phenomena...

. Alakh means "sightless" and niranjan means "spotfree". Niranjan is another name of Lord Shiva

Shiva

Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...

.

The original Sanskrit term Alakhshya means "one that can not be aimed at..."

Alakh Niranjan in Yoga tradition

Alakh means A-Lakhshana which means beyond identifying features (lakhshana) or attributes. It refers to Attributeless God or Nirguna Brahman

Brahman

In Hinduism, Brahman is the one supreme, universal Spirit that is the origin and support of the phenomenal universe. Brahman is sometimes referred to as the Absolute or Godhead which is the Divine Ground of all being...

 in here. This idea comes from ancient Yoga traditions originating in Swetashwetara Upanishad. This particular Upanishad

Upanishad

The Upanishads are philosophical texts considered to be an early source of Hindu religion. More than 200 are known, of which the first dozen or so, the oldest and most important, are variously referred to as the principal, main or old Upanishads...

 deals with Yoga, Vedantic Monotheism

Monotheism

Monotheism is the belief in the existence of one and only one god. Monotheism is characteristic of the Baha'i Faith, Christianity, Druzism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Samaritanism, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism.While they profess the existence of only one deity, monotheistic religions may still...

 as well as Shiva

Shiva

Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...

 as Sat-Chit-Ananda.

Legend has it, that the slogan or elating cry for the Supreme Being was first coined by Rishi Dattatreya. He is thought of as the initiator of the Nath Yoga

Nath

The Sanskrit word nāthá or नाथ, is the proper name of a Hindu initiatory tradition and the word itself literally means "lord, protector, refuge"...

Cult. The next big name that comes in Nath Yoga tradition is Yogi Matsyendranath

Matsyendranath

Matsyendranatha or Machindranath was one of the eighty-four Mahasiddhas. He was the guru of Gorakshanath, with whom he founded the school of Hatha yoga. He is considered as the author of the Kaulajñānanirṇaya , one of the earliest texts on Hatha Yoga in Sanskrit...

. Matsyendra is popularly regarded as the 'first Guru

Guru

A guru is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom, and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others . Other forms of manifestation of this principle can include parents, school teachers, non-human objects and even one's own intellectual discipline, if the...

' of Nath Yoga Cult. He first used the words "Alakh Niranjan" to denote God as perceived by a Yoga adept in known history. His disciple is known as Yogi Gorakhnath

Gorakshanath

Gorakshanath was an 11th to 12th century Hindu Nath yogi, connected to Shaivism as one of the two most important disciples of Matsyendranath, the other being Caurangi. There are varying records of the spiritual descent of Gorakshanath. All name Adinath and Matsyendranath as two teachers preceding...

, without whose mention, Nath Yoga becomes unimaginable. It is Gorakhnath and Matsyeranjha heetndranath who popularised Kaya Sadhana throughout known limits of India and beyond.

Gorakhnath actually organised and assimilated most Yogis of the Hatha Yoga

Hatha yoga

Hatha yoga , also called hatha vidya , is a system of yoga introduced by Yogi Swatmarama, a Hindu sage of 15th century India, and compiler of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika....

 and Tantra

Tantra

Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....

 Cult into the enormous Nath tradition. The city of Gorakhpur

Gorakhpur

Gorakhpur is a city in the eastern part of the state of Uttar Pradesh in India, near the border with Nepal. It is the administrative headquarters of Gorakhpur District and Gorakhpur Division. Gorakhpur is one of the proposed capitals of the Purvanchal state which is yet to be formed...

 in North India is named after the legendary Yogi. 'Alakh Niranjan' became a very popular name for God all over India during and after Gorakhnath's time. Later first Sikh Guru, Nanak used this holy name to denote God.

Famous works by Guru Matsyendranath: Kaulayogini Tantra.

• Guru Gorakhnath's celebrated works are Gorakhsha Samhita, Yoga-Bija.
• Guru Nanak's works include Japji ... Guru Grantha Saheb.