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Ram’s bath and the Bird’s hug
30 January 2001, Amritapuri At 8:30 a.m., Amma returned to Amritapuri in a little boat over the backwaters. She came from Kodungallur where the last programme of her three-week tour of southern India had finished at 4:00 a.m. When she arrived the first thing she did was to visit Ram, the baby elephant. She went…
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Response to Gujarat Earthquake
January 26th, 2001 India’s Republic Day Amma was giving darshan in Kodungallur, Kerala when one of the worst earthquakes in Indian history hit Bhuj, Gujarat. It measured 6.9 on the Richter Scale. The initial reports were bad—buildings were rubble, entire villages had been razed, and the injured and the dead were uncountable. Amma asked the…
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Amma’s 2001 visit to Kodungallur
The very first Brahmasthanam temple Amma installed is located in Kodungallur. 13 years ago Amma breathed life into its unique four-sided murthi (image) [symbolizing the one Supreme Being underlying all the various names and forms of the Divine]. This kind of temple has now spread to all parts of India and even abroad. (The first…
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‘Kumbha Mela’ in Trissur
25 January 2001, TrissurAll the splendour India is capable of was in evidence during Amma’s recent one-night programme in Trissur on 25th January, 2001. It was Her first visit to this town in three years, and the enthusiasm of the devotees was overwhelming. The whole city seemed decked out to welcome Amma. There were banners,…
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The bhavani tradition
24 January 2001, Bhavani river Devi Bhava darshan at Chennai had ended well after sun-up, so it was a hot and dusty ride to the Bhavani River. After dark, Mother seated Herself on a small raised circle of cement and grass. The location was special, with a number of temples and shrines here and there.…
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The child knows best…
24 January 2001, Chennai This year, Amma’s Devi Bhava darshan in Chennai finished at around 7:30 a.m. Yet, even after sitting and receiving all her children for about 12 hours, Amma wanted no rest. Within ten minutes of the curtains closing on the Devi Bhava, she had reappeared in a fresh white sari, ready to…
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How blind people smile
20 January 2001, Chennai During the Chennai Brahmasthanam Festival keys were distributed to recipients of Amrita Kuteeram, Mother’s house-building project for the homeless. The Union Minister for Rural Development, Sri Venkaiah Naidu, handed over the keys in the presence of Amma. Speaking on the occasion, he said: “I am not a spiritual man. I am…
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Meenakshi and her temple
19 January 2001, Madurai Madurai is famous for an exquisitely designed, sculpture-covered, dramatically high-rising (in the traditional Tamil Nadu style) Meenakshi Temple. The Devi there is clad in green, and whenever Mother is in Madurai, this Devi is honoured on the night of Her final programs. First, when the four-sided murthi (holy image) in the…
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Plates and names
19 January 2001, Madurai to Chennai Amma departed from Madurai immediately after Devi Bhava darshan at about 8:00 a.m. A long day of travelling was to follow for the long caravan of ashram buses and vehicles. Yet the magic of travelling with Amma is not so much the moving, as it is the stopping. All…
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Amma’s Chennai visit 2001
14 January 2001, Chennai Chennai (Madras), one of the cinema capitals of India, has large cut-out photographs of film stars. A centre of political activity, it sports larger-than-life cut-outs of political leaders, too. Among the cut-outs towering above the crowded streets of Chennai, this year there were those of Amma – the one at the…