Tag: Mahabali
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Onam: a beautiful memory of the past and a bright hope for the future
25 September 2018, Amritapuri Ashram (excerpt from Amma’s Onam Message) Onam is usually a time of celebration. However, this Onam, our minds are weighed down with grief. Many people lost their lives in the recent floods and landslides here in Kerala. Many people lost their homes and everything they had. It is heart-breaking that such…
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Onam: A Symbol of Happiness & Contentment
12 September 2008 — Amritapuri With the coming of Tiru Onam, thousands of people came to Amritapuri in order to celebrate. The bhajan hall was filled with smiling people dressed in new clothes. The feeling of celebration was in the air. Amma came to the dais to the sounds of panchavadyam around 11:00 am. After…
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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…
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How Amma celebrated Onam in her childhood
5 September 2005 — Amritapuri When a leading Malayalam newspaper reporter from Kerala recently asked Amma to tell him about her Onam memories of long ago, an unforgettable satsang poured forth. In talking about Onam and the village life of her youth, Amma found the perfect medium to share her vision of life, a vision…
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The origins of the festival of Onam
In ancient times, there was an extremely powerful king by the name of Mahabali; he ruled the three worlds. He was a righteous and generous king. King Mahabali’s one major flaw, which marred his spiritual stature, was the arrogance he felt when giving in charity to his subjects. He was very proud of the fact…