It is hard to imagine something more childish even in the rich world of indian spirituality. They even sell dolls of Amma with a widespread arms ready to hug, so whenever people need to share something, they can talk to a doll. That’s how she is advertised – like a mother, who will hug and comfort you, and wipe your tears. First of all, the very word “Amma” means “mother”, that name was given to her by her followers. The truth probably lies somewhere in between.Īmma’s teachings are extremely simple. The reports about this charitable activity are contorversive, some praise it for effectiveness, while others critisize it heavily.
Her organisation, Mata Amritanandamayi Math, is involved in helping the victims of disasters, empowering women, fighting hunger, improving public health and providing education for the poor. Since the beginning of 90-s she received numerous awards for her humanitarian efforts. As her ahsram grew, she became increasingly involved in different charitable activities. Since 1987 Amma started travelling to other countries. With time the property turned into an ashram, which by now grew to a size of a small town. Eventually she gained a reputation of a saint, and people started living around her at her family’s land. More and more people started coming to meet her and receive a hug. Her family tried to arrange her marriage a few times, but Amma always rejected it.
Despite being punished, she continued hugging, saying she just sees a human being in need, and she has to help. Her family was against it, as she hugged both men and women, which was considered unacceptable. She also started hugging people to comfort them in their sorrow. She started helping others with the clothes and food from her own home. As a child she used to collect food scraps from the neighbours to feed the family cattle, and she experienced the intense poverty and suffering of people. So is it all about that? Yes, there is nothing more to it.Īmma was born in a remote village in Kerala, south india, in a poor fishermans family. Her followers claim that Amma hugged more than 33 million people this seems a bit too much, but the way she does it, these is no doubt that she hugged loads of people. These hugging sessions turn into big festive events, that last for many hours with thousands of people being hugged at a time. She is famous for hugging people during the meetings with her followers. Amma, “the hugging saint”, is a contemporary guru from south India with a considerable international following.
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