Category: WithAmma
travelling with amma
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beautiful western ghats
20 march, bharata yatra 2008 after the mangalore brahmasthanam installation we started off to hyderabad at about 11 a.m. the landscapes of western ghats are beautiful. its a lovely sight of waves of mountains one after the other. its really beautiful. on either side plantations of betel nut, pepper, cardamom and coffee. as amma pass by, coffee plants in bloom were spreading a nice fragrance from their white flowers. kilometers of plantations were on either side. its so vast. its no wonder if karnataka overtakes kerala in coffee and pepper and the other spices. (whenever i visited wayanad, one of…
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It is OK
16 feb, bharata yatra 2008, enroute bangalore to mangalore the yatra from bangalore to mangalore was beautiful and tiresome. about 30 kilometers, the road was very bad, but afterwards, the road became smooth and nice. on either side of the road were coffee plantations, beetel-nut and pepper crops. i never knew karnataka has so much coffee and pepper plantations. there were waves of mountains. the beautiful landscape came more alive as the sun was setting. we ran down the western ghats to the plains once again. the temperature and humidity increased – from the beautiful weather of bangalore to the…
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The Installation
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…
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The Train Ride
Our bus was the first to reach the train station. There were already a few other pilgrims there who had elected to take rickshaws because they had heavy luggage. We had about an hour before our trains would arrive. Soon the other buses came. Brahmacharis, Brahmacharinis, Ammamars, and Achans descended carrying suitcases and boxes of bookstore items and supplies destined for the programme. We made up probably 90% of the people in the train station. Some went off for chai, others had some bananas. Others bought last minute tickets. Indeed, people were deciding to come right up until the last…
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Mangalore Brahmasthanam
18 Feb, Bharata Yatra 2008, Mangalore Kalasha Sthapana & Prana Pratistha The auspicious time for the Kalasha Sthapana was approaching and the excitement that always precedes this holy event was palpable. It is such a blessing to be present when a great Mahatma infuses life into a sacred murthi that people can hardly contain their enthusiasm. I certainly couldn’t even after having been present for many Pratistha’s before. These events are just so uplifting and purifying that I think on my deathbed I will look back on these as highlights in my life. After 11 am onward people were waiting…
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festive mangalore
17 feb, bharata yatra 2008, mangalore we reached mangalore. i know there is a lot missing in between. i have nice stories to tell you. what to do? the dust and the cold disturbing me. but still i try to cover the events. if i wait, then you will miss the celebration of tomorrow. so here it is .. a curtain raiser for mangalore. you cannot pass through any mangalore city road without noticing amma’s big posters welcoming all to come to the brahmasthana pratishta. amma is staying in the school. brahmasthanam is in the same coplex. the mangalore brahmasthanam…
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The Frog & the Snake
Talassery, 10-11 February 2008, During a recent tour stop in Talassery a friend was walking back from the ocean to the Amrita school where we were being housed. As she approached the gates of the school she noticed a frog merrily hopping across the road, seemingly care-free and in not particular hurry. Certainly it seemed unaware that it was actually in grave danger. Approximately four feet behind he frog followed a tan and copper-colored snake, about two and a half feet in length. It slid across the sandy ground with its head raised and its eyes sharp and intensely focused…
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Bangalore On Track
14 Feb 2008, Bangalore Some people say that the people in Bangalore are quickly losing their traditions due to fast modernization and western influence but watching the locals interact with Amma yesterday convinced me that at least they have not lost their devotion and love. Amma reached bangalore early in the morning so not everyone had a chance to her then so they had been waiting all day to get a glimpse of her. In the evening Amma was recording some new Kannada songs and when she came out of the room she saw everyone gathered downstairs calling for her…
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On The Way to Bangalore
13 Feb 2008 The Thalassery program was over and it was time to get on the busses and head towards Bangalore. It was raining most of the time so there was some doubt as to whether Amma would stop with us, but when night fell the caravan of busses came to a halt and everybody ran outside. Amma’s camper was parked and everyone gathered outside waiting for her to come out. When Amma came out she was a bit concerned since we had stopped next to cultivated fields and she did not want everyone rampaging through the field crushing everything…