Category: Festivals
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Guru Purnima in New Mexico
28 -29 June 2004 Santa Fe “This is the highpoint of Amma’s tour. It’s all down hill from here,” joked one of Amma’s devotees from Santa Fe. He was referring to the fact that, at 7,000 feet above sea level, Amma’s programmes at Her New Mexico ashram are the most physically elevated of Her U.S.…
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Kartika puja for the New Year
3 January 2004 — Amritapuri After bhajans ended this evening and Amma returned to Her room, many made their way to the kalari for the monthly Karthika Puja. In addition to the annual birthday observed in the West, which is based on the sun’s position, a monthly birthday is also traditionally observed in India that…
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Another New Year with Amma
1 January, 2004 Om Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu. This is the prayer that is chanted in Amritapuri, and by Amma’s devotees around the world, as the clock strikes midnight each New Year’s Day. The collective effect of many thousands one-pointedly chanting this powerful prayer for the peace and happiness of all beings everywhere serves to…
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23 Hours of Darshan
After 23 Hours… Darshan Ends Amma leaves after 23 hours on stage – end of AmritaVarsham50 Amma joined Her children in the Amritavarsham50 stadium on 27 September at 9:30 a.m. After an award ceremony, some speeches and cultural programmes, She began giving darshan. It wasn’t until 8:00 a.m. the next morning that Amma left the…
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Dr. Saleha Mahmood Abedin
Dr. Saleha Mahmood Abedin, Sociologist, Muslim Scholar and Director of Institute for Muslim Minority Affairs, London “We want complimentality, we want to be recognized as women, we want to be different.” —Dr. Saleha Mahmood Abedin “Men and Women as ‘Two Wings of a Bird’” “I begin in the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful. “Distinguished…
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Shri. Joseph Pulikkunnel
Shri. Joseph Pulikkunnel, Director, Indian Institute of Christian Studies, Christian reformer “It is commonly believed that in Semitic religions, the male dominance is a divine dictate. This is not the case.” —Joseph Pulikkunnel “Adopting Universal Motherhood: An Opportunity for Men” “Pranams to Amma, who has transformed Herself into the amrita [nectar] of love and compassion for the…
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Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan
Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan, Founder and Former Academic Director, Indira Gandhi National Centre of the Arts, New Delhi, India “We want the principle of complimentality and not of competition. The principle of being different, the principle of being one-not-complete-without-the-other and the principle of the mother.” – Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan “Reverence or Exploitation: Portrayals of Women in Classical Art…
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Smt. Mridula Sinha
Smt. Mridula Sinha, Chairperson, Central Social Welfare Board, India “When Brahma created the world, he was worried who would look after the world. Then he created a mother. So we have to treat them as special.” -Mridula Sinha “Old Abuses, New Solutions” “My pranam to our Amma and all sisters and brothers who have come to…
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Dr. Poornima Advani
Dr. Poornima Advani, Chairperson, National Commission for Women “Let us resolve, over here, that we would never take money for the marriage of our sons, that we would never give money for the marriage of our daughters.” —Dr. Poornima Advani “Altering the Image of Women in the Minds of Abusers” “I bow down to the Mother…
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Swamini Niranjanananda
Swamini Niranjanananda, Resident Acharya, Chinmaya Mission International Foundation “We have to go back to the state of the Vedic Age, where women were considered as a person and not a chattel of men.” —Sw. Niranjanananda “Reinstating Women’s Roles in Religion” “om brahmanandam paramasukhadam kevalam jnaanamurtiim dandvatitam gaganasadrusham tat-tvam-ashyadi laksyam ekam-nityam vimalam achalam sarvadhi saksi bhutam bhavatitam…