Mangalore is a large city in the state of Karnataka along the coast of the Arabian Sea.   It’s cleaner than most cities I’ve seen in India and more developed.   The buildings are taller and the architecture is more western or european.    The program site is on the grounds of Amma’s Vidyalayam which opened 9 years back.   The first batch of students haven’t yet graduated – they will continue up until 11th standard.

English is widely spoken here – and during darshan the previous night, many of the announcements were made in English as well as the local language.  Unfortunately (at least for most of the International devotees), satsang was only translated into Kannada.

The Brahmastanam itself appears to be larger than others I’ve seen.  The inner sanctum sanctorum is located inside a larger square structure that surrounds it on all four sides.  The platform had been constructed on the roof where Amma would sit to install the Kalasam.

When Amma finally came, it was about 11:40am.  A group of musicians were playing traditional South Indian Music – drums and horns filled the air.  Amma made her way up the ramp to the top.    The sky was clear and blue.  Eagles were already circulating above head – an auspicious site at any of Amma’s Inaugurations – and even more so as they generally appear only at one particular point when the energy is intensely high.  The fact that they were already there from the start was noticed by everyone.

Amma sat at the base of the Kalasam and began the puja.  Due to the structure of the Brahmastanam Temple and the layout of the grounds, there were limited vantage points where one could see Amma directly.  Luckily, there were many TVs where people could watch.  With Amma’s Grace, I found a spot where I could see both Amma and her image on the TV.

As Amma blessed and placed the various pieces of the Kalasam on the top of the Temple, the energy increased exponentially.  At one point, a huge batch of firecrackers were lit.  Boom, boom boom – went on for what seemed like eternity. I found myself pulled towards the Temple to get a closer – Amma would be coming down from the top and would be going inside the Temple to install the Murti.

Sri Pati
18-Feb 2008,  Mangalore