Category: AshramDiary
life at the Amritapuri ashram
-
shyam ke ye leela ko dekh
8 mar 2012, amrtapuri early in the day it was very much in the air that amma may play holi. when? no one knew. i saw some devotees walking around with some colour powder. so it was obvious that something might happen. but when? no one knew. remember? back in 2007, in mysore, one devotee took powder hiding under her sari while going for darshan and she she took out the powder and smeared it on amma’s cheek. she gave amma the rest of the bowl. then amma started smearing golden yellow colour on everyone who was coming for darshan.…
-
Kanha He Ek? Gopi Anek!
Will she or won’t she? That was the question on everyone’s minds on Holi. Most years Amma has been in North India on this day, but this year it was a darshan day at Amritapuri. Would she play Holi with us? Darshan was coming to a close and there was a Pada Puja at the end. As the puja ended, it seemed that Amma might just stand up and leave. But some devotees showed Amma a pichkkari and some coloured powders and her interest was clearly aroused. She asked for the musicians to play “Ayi He Holi”. “Ayi he holi…
-
Kanha Ek, Gopi Anek
8 Mar 2012, Amritapuri I had a great Holi. Even though we said that we should not celebrate Holi on our campus since we did not want students throwing color on each other in the classrooms. Nevertheless I got my share of holi- when the Chancellor of the university doused me with color as I hid behind Her chair 🙂 I had gone near Amma in order for her to bless two research proposals that were written by the Electrical Engineering Department. I saw our Vice Chancellor near Amma’s chair so I walked up and squeezed myself near him and…
-
Seven women plumbers
Seven women, in grey working coats worn over their sarees, moving among others during lunch time in the big hall of the ashram have drawn the attention of many. “Who are they, those smiling women? They seem to be very much at home here.” Ashram people ask each other. Western residents seem to have known them already. They say, “They are the first batch of women plumbers, trained in the University.” Amrita University has a course in which artisans are taught trades such as plumbing through computer technology. These women have successfully completed three month training, and are now apprentices.…
-
Amma began Holi play?
It was a cloudy morning in Amritapuri. Amma came out of her house early for a few special group photographs with recent graduates of Biotech school of Amrita University. After the photographs had been taken in front of Her house, Amma looked up at all of the people standing on the back of the temple balcony, waiting for Her to enter, and asked, “Why has everything been set up inside the temple? I am going there !! (the main hall for giving darshan)” She promptly turned and walked towards the main hall. Immediately everybody panicked because nothing whatsoever was setup…
-
Wind turbines and Mahatmas
2 Mar 2012, Amritapuri I have heard of a yogic technique called “Samyama ” using which an accomplished Yogi can find out anything about any object in this universe. Moreover, they say that for a Self Realized Mahatma, the whole universe is an open book – any object will reaveal its nature of itself, as the Mahatma knows the inner nature of everything . Thus a mahatma will know the inner nature of an object, though He may not use the terminology that we are familiar with . Well yesterday, I had an experience which was possibly a glimpse into…
-
Baby Krishna cows in Amritapuri
A bit less than a year ago, Amritapuri was welcoming 6 new special residents: the miniature indigenous cows from two endangered breeds in India, the Vichoor Cow and the Kasargod Dwarf. The very species that Krishna once played with and made so dear to his heart… (Read about their arrival) Since then, the 4 adults (Shankar the bull; Parvati, Ganga and Saraswati the cows) and the 2 calves Kasturi and Sreekutty (both females) have enjoyed happy days in Amritapuri and made their presence dearly appreciated by all the ‘other residents’ here (us). Each morning they have two hours in the…
-
In Love, there Is no effort
18 Feb 2012, Amritapuri Yesterday Amma suddenly came out of room, and started brick seva. Luckily I was near her room at that time, and saw people running for seva and went along to help with the bricks. Amma was carrying bricks, and we were all helping in carrying bricks from one point to another, where some construction was taking place. I called a couple of people and said “Amma is here, come fast for brick seva” and they all came running. {news} Amma went near the construction site on the grounds on the western side of the ashram. There…
-
Birds in Amritapuri
Around Amma’s birthday, a tiny pair of birds chose the leaf of a certain potted plant near the kitchen to build their nest, lay four eggs and rear four young ones. They bent a leaf to a shape and made a cradle out of it. Another kind of tiny birds which built its hanging nest on the mailanji right in front of Kalari, successfully raised a little one which flew into the free air just before Christmas. Normally the wild ants would eat up the fledglings on the day they hatched. This time Nature kept ants away with rains. Also,…