Author: Amrita
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A Colorful and Sonorous Welcome
27 Jan, Tirunelveli We arrived in Tirunelveli at about 3am. The women were staying at the Sri Sarada Devi Woman’s College and Hostel – a school founded by Vivekananda and inspired by Sri Ramakrishna and Sarada Devi. The students here typically go to bed at 9:30pm and wake up between 3 and 4am for morning
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Bathroom Break
On the long bus journey from Kumbokanam to Tirunelveli, we stopped for a bathroom break. The bathroom consisted of a large field with some bushes and trees. What a laughable scene it must have been to see hoards of women in white saris and Punjabis spreading out across this green and golden landscape in search
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Stop before Tirunelveli
28 Jan, 2008 Before sunset, Amma stopped in an empty field with the traveling devotees. Amma’s chair was placed facing the fading sun, and all the devotees crowded around. As the sun set, Amma spent some time with everyone meditating. After meditation, Amma and Swamiji tried out a newly tuned Malayalam bhajan; Amma was making
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Kali’s sword
28 Jan, 2008 I asked for it. But never could I have imagined that it would happen this way… or hurt so bad. Kali’s way can be mysterious and decisively severe. While separated from Amma during the European Tour, I was studying yoga in the Himalayan foothills. Each day, I sought refuge at the nearby
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Entomologist’s dream
28 Jan 2008, Thirunelvali, Tamil Nadu Amma’s public programmes are generally held in large outdoor fields. There is a huge stage on one end which is covered by a shed. Then the crowd extends out for perhaps two or three football fields – depending on the grounds. When Amma comes to one of these cities,
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A Contrast of Colors
Thirunelvali One only has to look out at the women’s side of the crowd from the stage to see a rainbow of colors. There are all shades, all hues, all varieties. As if Amma herself threw the entire universal palette of paint into the crowd. Landing on the different embodied jivas, perhaps representing the color
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Controlled Chaos
Chennai The Chennia ashram is the only one of Amma’s Ashrams I’ve been to that lies directly on a main street in the city. The Ashram itself four stories high with the main hall on the ground floor. Literally just out front is a bustling street – two lanes in each direction. The police have
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corner of the nectar pot
27 jan 2008, kumbhakonam we reached kumbhakonam well past one’o clock in the morning. the accommodation was arranged in the guest house of a devotee. that was 21 km away from the town. we drove through the village. it was so remote even mobile connection was not possible. (now in india every village has mobile
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Chennai to Kumbhakonam
25 jan, chennai to kumbhakonam, bharata yatra 2008 two days program in chennai is over. all of us started off to kumbhakonam in the afternoon. for a long time we were travelling by the smooth seashore road. the beauty of the vast blue ocean was intercepted by the isolated palm trees. on the right side