16 – 17 March, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi – Bharata yatra 2011
Delhi, the capital of India, is the last stop of Amma’s programs in North India this year.
The Brahmasthanam temple in Vasant Kunj at the Delhi branch-ashram, was inaugurated by Amma back in 1995. Since then, She has graced the capital with her presence almost every year holding annual festive celebrations.
During Her visit, and as she has done everywhere else on this tour, Amma extended the ashram’s charitable activities. This included the distribution of Vidyamritam scholarships, the distribution of handkerchiefs for students and children as part of the Amala Bharatam Campaign in Delhi, and the blessing by Amma of Tulasi saplings as part of the AYUDH activities in the capital.
Like in the previous Hindi speaking cities part of the tour, Amma pleased the devotees by leading the Manasa Puja in the local language… A precious additional generous gift that she now grants the devotees of each place that she visits in India, bringing more happiness to their fulfilled hearts.
Lot of important dignitaries from different walks of life got a chance to meet Amma and receive her blessings.
On the evening program of the 16th, Shri Satyanand Misra, Chief Information Officer of the Central Information Commision (CIC), and Dr Rajendra K Pachauri, attended the functions, garlanded Amma and gave brief speeches. Dr Pachauri is the Chief Executive of TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) and Chairman of IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – established by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme); he said in his speech:”A few months back I had the privilege of having God Amma’s Darshan. And the one thing that struck me is that she exudes Love. You just have to look at her when she hugs with her arms around you and whispers blessings in your ears, you know this is a fountain of love. And I think in this world today, this is one commodity that is missing and which we have to discover because it is within ourselves. If we have love for each other, if we have love for Mother Earth, if we have love for all loving beings, then there would be no basis for conflict at all. And I think all of us would bask in the blessing that Amma’s simple life is. Because she is truly such an enormous fountain of energy and love and compassion. I think if all of us were to get even a fraction of it within our own beings, there would have been only joy in the whole world. I am very much indebted to Amma and I thank her. I also pay my respect to her. I would also like to say that whatever little I could do with her inspiration, I would strive my best to accomplish it.”
On the evening program of the 17th, students from the Amrita Vidyalayam, Delhi, delighted the crowd with various performances. Around 5:45am, as darshan was ending, all those present gathered around Amma waiting for the special delight that she was about to offer: For the next 45 minutes, with the microphone in Her hands Amma led 2 ‘upbeat’ bhajans – ‘Hari Narayana’ in Hindi, ‘Bandalo bandalo’ in Kannada, guiding everyone into rounds of clapping, dancing, and “Jai!”-replies to her “Matarani Ki!”-calls… As Amma was swaying back and forth with hand gestures, the group also moved in the same rhythm as if in a boat race. The whole hall was vibrating with full of energy, as Amma’s loving eyes were continuously scanning across the hall, with a compassionate look and a bewitching smile on her face. Then Amma asked every one to pray for the world peace, especially for the victims of the Japan disaster, leading all in chanting of ‘Loka Samasthah sukhino Bhavanthu’ mantra.
‘Holi has come, I have filled up the water pistol’ … singing the song The “Ayee he Holi” – Amma started smearing colour powder on the face of the children standing around her. As the tempo of the song increased, Amma sprayed color powders around. Every one was ecstatic. The Delhi devotees will surely paint their hearts with these colours for a long time.
After the programs in Delhi, Amma left for Singapore-Mauritius-Reunion-Kenya tour, while most of the tour group will head back to Amritapuri, and eagerly wait, yet again, for Amma’s return there.
— Kannadi
