News - Amma, Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

Stupika installation at Amritapuri

6 April 2000, Amritapuri Today the Gopura-Stuptika Pratishtapana ceremony was performed at Amritapuri ashram, and the main meditation dome, which is the highest point of the temple building, received a sacred Stupika (a pointed metallic apex vessel). The side domes also received smaller Stupikas. According to the ashram astrologer, this is the first auspicious period since […]

Amma is beyond all Bhavas

Question: If Advaita (non-duality) is the Truth, why is bhava darshan necessary? Amma: Amma is not confined to any bhava (mood). She is beyond all bhavas. Advaita is the experience of non-duality. When there are no two, everything is the Atmaswarupa (form of the Self); everything is God. This is also the message that Amma […]

The irresistible pull

1 April 2000, Singapore At sunset Mother led Her devotees to a nearby park to meditate. They sat quietly together for a quarter of an hour, and then rose to head back home. Imagine the scene: a quiet, upscale neighbourhood, with neatly trimmed lawns and clean streets. Out of nowhere, there suddenly appears a small […]

Pune’s Lord of Knowledge

Sthala Puranas of Bharat Alandi, a town 25 kilometres from Pune, in the Pune District of Maharashtra, is a revered pilgrimage site for a number of reasons, but foremost is the fact of it being the home of the 13th-century Maharashtran saint, Sant Jnaneshwar (Jnanadev). In fact, Jnanadev spent most of his short life (1275-1296 […]

Mumba Devi reclaims Bombay

Sthala Puranas of Bharat In the mid-1990s, many state governments officially re-Indianized their citie’s names. In 1995, the capital of Maharashtra officially switched from Bombay to Mumbai, thereby re-invoking a goddess considered by the Koli1 to be the area’s protectress. (The name “Mumbai” comes from a mix of mumba and ai, both of which mean […]

Darshan through train window

16 March 2000, Lucknow It was on the train line between New Delhi and Calcutta, sometime in the middle of the night. The Rajdhani Express pulled into the station at Lucknow, and chanting rose from the platform: “Om Amriteshwaryai Namaha!” the voices called out. “Om Amriteshwaryai Namaha!” Devotees were there, yearning for at least a […]

Holi, the Festival of Colours, Joy and Renewal

Holi was Krishna and the gopi’s celebration of Love. This teasing, affectionate panorama of feeling and colour has been captured

Bhajans are to awaken the real light within

Question: Amma, you seem to be giving more importance to bhakti (devotion) than to any other path. Why is this so? Amma: When you say bhakti, do you mean just repeating a mantra and singing devotional songs? That alone is not bhakti. True devotion is discriminating between the eternal and the ephemeral. It is to […]

Dadhichi saves the Gods in Ahmadabad

Sthala Puranas of Bharat In Ahmadabad1, on the banks of the Sabarmati River is a place called Dudheshwara. This is said to have been the ashram of a great rishi [sage] by the name of Dadhichi [also Dadhyancha2]. Different versions of Dadhichi’s story are mentioned in a number of sacred texts, among them Rg Veda, […]

The nose of Brahma’s pot

Legends of Kumbhakonam Sthala Puranas of Bharat Kumbhakonam and the surrounding villages are linked together through via a wondrous story regarding this particular cycle of creation. During the cosmic deluge of pralaya, Brahma prepared himself for the next cycle of creation. He put all the seeds from which creation would sprout in amrita [the elixir […]