Mata Amritanandamayi Math, is situated at Amritapuri in Vallickavu, a
small fishing village near Quilon (Kollam), South Kerala. The ashram which
houses more than 2,500 disciples and householders as full-time residents
is located at the site of the birth place and childhood home of Mata Amrithanandamayi
or Amma or Ammichi as she is popularly known. Thousands of people around
the world come to experience her unique 'darshan', in which she holds
each devotee in her arms like a mother embracing a child.
Mata Amrithanadamayi's principal teaching is not her words, but the experience
of being with her. She has a special earthy aura a sense of peace about
her, a special healing touch, experienced by people who come to see her
or receive her 'darshan'. Amma gives darshan on Wednesdays, Thursdays
and Saturdays. She personally receives every person who comes to her with
a radiant smile, talking to them, consoling and blessing them finally
giving them a divine motherly hug. She is been known to embrace over 15,000
devotees in one night. On Sundays Amma gives a special 'Devi Bhava' darshan,
a ritual in which she dresses in a spectacular costume and a crown, enters
a trance and assumes the form of the Divine mother. This special
darshan lasts the whole night past sunrise the next morning. Her devotees
believe her to be an incarnation of the Hindu Goddess Kali. Some of them
even worship her picture or small Ammachi dolls. Tuesdays and Fridays
are set aside for ashram residents when Amma comes to the temple to give
them 'Satsang'.
The daily routine at the ashram starts in the early morning
at around five with the devotional chanting of 'Lalitha sahasranama' accompanied
by the tabla and harmonium followed by Scripture classes, meditation,
bhajans till the evening, with breaks in between. When Amma is in
the ashram and not giving darshan, she is leading the ashramites in meditation,
instructing them in their spiritual practices and edifying them with her
immortal wisdom. She leads the bhajans in the evenings or devotional chanting,
with infectious passion and abandon flinging her arms in the air as she
cries out rapturously, the names of god and goddesses. The devotees
also gets into the Bhakti mood sharing her passion. There are also classes
in yoga, Sanskrit, Vedanta and meditation.
 All
visitors are required to sign up for daily 'karma yoga' (selfless service)
which means simply work, including cleaning, food preparation etc. in
the ashram. When Amma is at the ashram, the place buzzes with activity
with the large volume of devotees and the frequent singing of bhajans.
Amma is generally out of the country from mid May until
mid August as well as from early November until early December.
The ashram, now the headquarters of Amma's world wide mission, runs a
number of charitable, medical and educational programs, including an orphanage,
a free housing program for poor widows, and a hostel for tribal children,
a hospice for cancer patients, a five hundred bed hospital, an ayurvedic
clinic, a computer technology institute and a technical school at the
premises as well as ashrams or centres throughout India and abroad. Through
its branch ashrams, the math conducts regular medical camps, programmes
for feeding the poor, distributes pensions to impoverished women, and
builds free homes for the poor. The branches also assist in the collection
and distribution of free clothes and school books, and some arrange scholarships
for deserving children who would otherwise not be able to attend school.
The math has centres in 28 countries including USA, UK, UAE, Australia,
Canada, France, Germany, Japan etc.
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