Religious
Thinkers
Mata Amritanandamayi
Born
: 1953
Mata Amranananthamayi the great spiritual personality lovingly known as Amma
or Ammachi, belongs to Kollam, Kerala. Earlier named as Sudhamani, she was born
on September 27th 1953 to parents Sugunandan and Damayanthi. Amma mostly draped
in a white sari with her loving smile and her healing touch, has a huge number
of followers both in India and abroad.
'Mata Amritanandamayi' means 'Mother of Immortal Bliss'. Her devotees believe
her to be an incarnation of the Hindu Goddess Kali.
Sudhamani belonging to a poor fishermen family in rural Kollam had only primary
education. She never had a spiritual mentor or guru, nor was she exposed to
any philosophical books. Her immense love for fellow human beings and compassion
to those who were in need sowed the seeds of what would become her eventual
mission. Her parents says that the child had great concern for the poor, though
their own family was barely subsisting.
In 1975, during a religious reading in the neighborhood, Sudhamani had a vision
and showed her 'Krishna Bhava'. From then onwards she completely devoted herself
to serving humanity. Slowly people began to flock to the village and seek her
blessings. But there was opposition from her family and outside. So she started
a small seaside hamlet where some of her disciples left their families and came
to live with her.
The Vallikkavu ashram, now called Amritandanmayi Math started off in 1981 as
a soul-soothing spiritual tourism spot. Amma would console her visitors by cradling
them in her arms, listening to their problems, gently stroking their backs,
and often whispering soothing words in their ears. The math is now the self
contained headquarters of an international charity organization with towering
quarters for devotees. It has branches in many Indian cities and has centers
in several Asian countries, the US, Europe, Mauritius and Reunion Island.
Today her efforts has broadened worldwide with Mata Amritanandamayi Mission
Trust being the headquarters to the various charitable projects such as Amrita
Niketan (orphanage), Amrita Balamandiram (hostel for scheduled caste students),
Amrita Bhavanam (hostel for tribal children), Amrita Kripa Sagar (hospice for
the terminally ill cancer patients), Amrita Medical Centre and Amrita Medical
Mission of Ayurveda etc. being some of them. The trust has built 25,000 houses
for the poor in 12 Indian States. In 1993, Amma was one of the three people
who represented Hinduism at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago.
In 2002, she won the Gandhi- King Award for Non-violence.
Amma with her special aura of sanctity travels around the country and abroad,
giving 'darshan', bringing solace and peace to an increasing number of devotees
black, brown and white, with her divine hug.
OTHER RELIGIOUS THINKERS
» Gautama
Buddha
» Swami Vivekananda
» Mata Amritanandamayi
» Ramakrishna
Paramahansa
» Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
» Sri Satya Sai Baba
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