

MotherPage Social Service Orphanage Orphanage

Amrita Niketan Orphanage

Amma with the orphanage children in Amritapuri ashram

The Amrita Niketan orphanage is dedicated to caring for 500 children from the most disadvantaged sections of society, mainly from the adivasi (tribal) villages of Northern Kerala. With nourishing food and loving care, the children gain confidence and make a new start in life.

They receive an excellent education at Amma’s Sanskrit Secondary School. The school is the largest school in Kerala to teach Sanskrit as the first language, and is one of the best schools in its district.

The children excel in music, sports and dance. Br. Vijayamrita Chaitanya, the orphanage director, says: “Extracurricular activities now include classical dance music, panchavadyam, tabla lessons, and computers. Our children receive free coaching in all these areas from experts. One innovation is that we now have a group of girls studying panchavadyam. Actually, girls playing panchavadyam is unheard of elsewhere—traditionally, only boys play it.

But Amma is very keen that girls also get a chance to learn it “Our children continue to win top prizes in many competitions—group song, patriotic song, panchavadyam and light music.

A number of our graduating students have been able to find jobs in Amma’s institutions. One of our students, 18-year-old Nanjan, gained admission into our university’s college of engineering. He came to us eight years ago from a very poor village in the adivasi community of Attapadi. He is our first adivasi boy to attend university.

In order to encourage talented but financially poor students to take up higher studies, the Ashram has instituted the Amrita Scholarships. In addition, devotees can also create endowments, the interest from which will be utilised for scholarships.

Above all, the children have found in Amma a loving mother. They feel a close bond with Her and visit Amritapuri regularly. Br. Vijayamrita continues: “The children’s visits to Amritapuri during festive occasions are very important. It is much more than just a holiday for them. They spend time with Amma every day and take part in the ashram routine. For many of the children, Amma’s presence and the tenderness She shows them really does fill in the void they feel from having lost their parents or from leaving their homes.

Together with the orphans cared for at the ashram in Madurai, the total number of orphans brought up by the ashram is over 700. In Madurai, children from the orphanage attend public schools and lead a life at par with the other students in all respects.