29th October 2006 — Hot Springs, Arkansas, USA The Mata Amritanandamayi Math’s documentary “Pray & Serve: Amma’s Response to the Tsunami” won the Filmmaker’s Award at the prestigious Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival in Arkansas, USA. The film was screened on 28th October and the award was presented the following night. This Hot Springs Documentary [Read more... click the article link above]

28 October 2006, Germany To anyone attending the programmes in Munich and Mannheim, one would think that Germany has more children than any other country on earth.   In both places, dozens of children shared the stage with Amma during satsang each night – in Mannheim, the count was as high as 75!   Even during the [Read more... click the article link above]

15 Oct 2006, Helsinki, Finland On behalf of the Government of Finland, the Honourable Cultural Minister, Tanja Saarela, welcomed Amma to Helsinki. In her speech, the honourable Minister Tanja said, “Globalisation as such is neither good nor bad, but there is a need for examples against greed and uncaring behaviour. A good example of this [Read more... click the article link above]

Munich, Germany — 10 October 2006 Moving through the city of Munich one sees sculpted lions—stone, copper, iron—on almost every street corner. Munich is famous for its lions, as Berlin is famous for its bears. The lion, however, is special to devotees of the Divine Mother, as the goddess Durga is depicted as seated on [Read more... click the article link above]

4 October 2006, 4:45 am, Amritapuri 3:30 a.m.: The bell rings for archana, a little earlier than usual. Some ashram residents haven’t slept, as they have been helping out with last-minute packing for the tour. The other sleepyheads were keeping awake in anticipation of Amma’s early-morning departure. 4:45 a.m.: The bell rings thrice, a clear [Read more... click the article link above]

2 Oct 2006 Amma initiates babies into the world of alphabets, first lessons of tabla, harmonium and veena during Vijaya Dashami celebrations. At Amritapuri, the ceremony involves tracing each letter of the alphabet in a plate of rice or even in sand on the ground. Traditionally, the writing was alternately done on the tongue with [Read more... click the article link above]

Amma’s message on Vijayadashami day 2nd October 2006 Amritapuri Navaratri is a festival that is celebrated all over India. The word nava-ratri itself means “nine nights.” We are presently living in the night-i.e. in darkness, in the darkness of ignorance. The Navaratri Puja signifies the removal of this internal darkness and the dawning of the [Read more... click the article link above]