Today Friday 11am was a special meeting for the ‘foreigners’, for Amma’s birthday celebrations. At least 400 attended. We were given all information about the coming days… As many more of Amma’s children from abroad are expected (something like nearly 2000) the international office was asking for the help of everyone to solve the question […]
This afternoon, to the rhythmic ceremonial drumming of the Parippally Panchavatyam ensemble, and accompanied by the ashram elephant, Laxshmi, our beloved Ganesh murti rolled out the ashram gate to the sea. Before that he was offered one more round of rousing bhajans and arati at the kalari and then a big procession took him to […]
Vyasa (USA) visited Amma in Amritapuri in 1982. This is part 2 of Vyasa’s interview by Priyan. (Read part 1) Q: “What are some special moments with Amma that you remember from these days?” A: “Well, Amma was literally with us all the time. She ate with us, fed us, meditated with us, sang bhajans with […]
With Amma’s sweet instructions not to be spendthrift, and to use only indigenous flowers , the pookalam aspirants now have less but more sensible choices before them. As a result they have become more creative than ever. Using the flowers as a whole, without plucking at their petals, the young aspirants –this time both boys […]
With many International devotees arriving early for AV60 and devotees from branch centres all over India arriving to do seva, the population here at Amritapuri is swelling hourly. Add the crowd arriving to celebrate Onam festivities with Amma and spend their Onam vacation with her, and you have the perfect Amma rainbow flower garden of […]
Onam brings with it many special joys. The early preparations for this happy event make it a festival of flowers. Floral decorations adorn every household. With time the fine ritual like any other begins to assume the shape of a bane practice. Unfortunately, neglecting to grow flowers, people begin to buy flowers in huge competitive […]
A couple of years ago when Amma called a young female dog ‘Bhakti’, some wondered: how appropriate can such a spiritual poetic name be for a mere stray dog!? ‘Tumban’, the name of the other ashram male dog, was an OK name; Tumban is a comic character in Malayalam lore. Bhakti (or devotion) is a […]
Sunday the 3rd of March saw the arrival of twelve new members of four families into the existing fold of cows in Amrita Gokula, the ashram cowshed by Amma’s cottage. The cows came travelling a long distance from Mysore Amrita Vidyalaya, where they were being tended till now. When Amma was in Mysore last, may […]
Now a days, the naked banyan tree by the kayal has special bloom all over its body. See the picture. They are not its regular foliage but, but… birds! Birds that roost every night. The black birds and the white birds. Soon after archana, when the ether is still gray, go to the juice stall […]