Special poojas mark Amma’s 53rd birthday

In the presence of thousands of devotees from across the world, the 53rd birthday of Mata Amritanandamayi was celebrated with special poojas at Amritapuri near here on Wednesday.

The birthday celebrations started in the morning with Padapooja (worship of the feet) of Amritanandamayi by Amrita- swaroopanandapuri, the chief disciple of Amma.

Addressing the gathering, Amritanandamayi said that the ashram wished to extend relief to the debt-ridden farmers in the State and requested the help of the Government in this regard.

“We would also like to explore the reasons behind this phenomenon and would take steps to give counseling to the farmers who are prone to commit suicide,” she said.

She opined that strict surveillance and security measures could not prevent terrorist threat from the world. “Only by eradicating loathe, revenge and other evils from human mind, terrorism could be warded off. Love must be awakened in every one’s mind to eradicate terrorism,” she said.

Keys of 341 houses built by the Ashram, as part of the Tsunami relief package, were handed over in the public meeting. Union Minister of State for Planning MV Rajasekharan, Food and Civil supplies Minister C Divakaran and Fisheries Minister S Sarma handed over the keys of the houses to the victims. Noted Oriya writer Prathibha Rai was presented with the Amritha Keerthi literary award constituted by the Ashram by noted film director Adoor Gopalakrishnan.

The programme was followed by a mass marriage function in which 51 couples tied the knots. Former Chief Minister K Karunakaran, former Minister CV Padmamrajan , BJP leader O Rajagopal and other dignitaries participated in the function.

The Sinhala translation of the biography of Amritanandamayi and the birth day issue of Amrithavani, the monthly journal of the Ashram, were released in the function.