Category: Festivals
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Confront trying times with Love
Amma’s birthday celebrations 27 September 2005 — Amritapuri Some 200,000 people descended on Amritapuri for Amma’s birthday this year. The seemingly gigantic bhajan hall was deemed too small a venue, and a special pandal was therefore erected behind the hall, with a capacity to seat nearly 50,000 people. But in the early hours of the…
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In difficult times, kindle the strength of love
Excerpts from Amma’s satsang on the occasion of her 52nd Birthday 27 September 2005 — Amritapuri “Amma is very happy to see so many of her children gathered together here today. Children who have the attitude of service are the pride of their mother and the beauty of society. In Amma’s world, there is no…
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We will remember Amma’s special love forever
26 September 2005 — Azhikkal, Alappad Panchayat, Kollam District, Kerala Ramya, the daughter of Ravindran and Rajila of Medayil House in Azhikkal, was beaming with joy. She is one of 51 women who will be married in the Ashram’s mass marriage taking place tomorrow on Amma’s birthday. Only a few months back, Ramya’s mother was…
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Amma’s birthday is bigger than onam
26 September 2005 — Alappad Panchayat, Kollam District, Kerala Tears of joy rolled down the cheeks of Ravi and his wife Ammini Amma, as they stood in front of the new house that Amma’s Ashram had built from them. This is in Azhikkal, where the tsunami devoured 86 lives, including two of Ravi and Ammini…
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Amma did what the government could not
26 September 2005 — Alappad Panchayat, Kollam District, Kerala On 26 December 2004, they lost everything. For generations their families have been maintained through fishing. Never did they dream that in one day their means to that income could literally be washed away. But that’s exactly what happened when the tsunami wrecked their fishing boat…
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Lighting the lamps of love
26 September 2005 — Amritapuri The Kayamkulam Backwaters looked like the Ganga flowing through Haridwar. The waterway was glowing with the dancing lights of thousands oil lamps lit all along the banks of the village community—a spontaneous and loving gesture by the neighbouring villagers to express their unfathomable gratitude to Amma. The twinkling lamps—Amrita Jyoti—symbolized…
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Birthday guests from around the world
26 September 2005 — Amritapuri From all the parts of the world, they came to celebrate Amma’s birthday—from Europe, North and South America, Japan, Australia, the Middle East, and of course from India itself…. We had a short chat with a couple from Peru, a Malayali living in Dubai, a lady from Poland, two young…
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Amma is applying the real communist principles
26 September 2005 — Amritapuri Sri. Devakumar is a member of Kerala’s Legislative Assembly and is a leader of the CPIM (Communist Party of India, Marxist). Speaking before the Assembly, Sr. Devakumar strongly supported Amma’s social-welfare projects, particularly in regard to the Ashram’s tsunami-relief work. He was one of thousands of people who came to…
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Birthday preparations underway
25 September 2005 — Amritapuri First there was the kalari… When it became too small, the main temple was built.. Then in 2001, what is now referred to as the bhajan hall was constructed… And now it seems that even that is too small for Amma’s birthday. This year, the birthday programme and Amma’s darshan…
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Onam: Unity of hearts is the beauty of the society
15 September 2005 — Amritapuri “All of you look like a beautiful pookkalam,” Amma said, looking down at the 10,000 or so people who had gathered at Amritapuri to celebrate Onam. Later, in her satsang, Amma explained that pookkalams, the multicoloured flower-petal mandalas of Onam, symbolize the confluence of hearts in society. “Pookkalam represent the…