History of the Orphanage

The original orphanage was established in 1964. By 1989, the institution was sinking under the weight of heavy financial debts. That year, the institution’s headmaster contacted Amma for help. M.A. Math agreed to take over the orphanage. When the Mother's brahmachari's and brahmacharinis arrived in May of 1989, the buildings were dilapidated and the living conditions were extremely poor and unsanitary.

There was no medical facility and many of the children's health problems went untreated. Boys and girls had to take baths outside by the water tank since there were no adequate bathing facilities. There were no functioning latrines for either the boys or the girls. The food was lacking in essential vitamins and minerals and there was no milk for the children.

The teachers in the school had to stand all day long because there were no tables or chairs. The thirty to forty children in each class had to do the best they could with only two or three benches per room. The dining hall was a small, dark room with a dirt floor which was always flooded during the summer months, forcing the children to stand while eating. There was no electricity and water was extremely scarce.

There were neither utensils to cook with in the kitchen nor any supplies, not even a grain of rice or salt. Since the children had been living with no rules or regulation for years, one of the first tasks for the brahmachari's was to organise and discipline the children. They organised a schedule of systematic group study, prayers and bhajans. A strict timetable was established to provide a sense of regularity. A complaint box was installed for the children to have an alternate way of handling their problems.

Each night they held mediation meetings to sort out and discuss the problems that arose from day to day. The first summer months were extremely difficult. The roofs leaked in several buildings and many of the floors were irreparably damaged by years of flooding. The brahmachari's began to do construction and repair work to ameliorate these problems. The Math invested large sums of money in order to extend the dining hall and build school furniture, construct proper accommodation, repair broken toilets and build new ones, install plumbing and pumps, and repair and rewire the electrical system.

The situation has drastically improved since then. When one visits the orphanage now, one is eagerly greeted by smiling, healthy children, their palms pressed together in India's traditional manner of polite salutation.

Many programmes have now been introduced at the orphanage, including music and instrumental instruction, daily yoga exercises and physical education, scheduled study periods and tutoring, prayers and bhajans and playtime. All new facilities have been constructed, including proper classrooms, accommodation, playground, a dance hall, medical facilities.

The children are organised into groups that assist in the flower and vegetable gardening as well as the cooking. When one enters the kitchen, one will see small group of young girls or boys, aged twelve to eighteen, stirring huge pots of rice and curries, with another group of younger children chopping vegetables. The children are proud of their cooking and gardening, and they take great delight in showing visitors around the premises.

A doctor visits regularly, and a new medical facility has recently been built on the premises.

The school extends up to the 12th standard. Sanskrit is taught to all the children.