Social service schemes launched at Amritanandamayi birthday fete

Modi was the chief guest during the morning session

September 26, 2013 11:53 pm | Updated November 16, 2021 09:05 pm IST - KOLLAM:

Mata Amritanandamayi and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi at a function conection with 'Amiritavarsham 60' at Amritapuri in Kollam onThursday.  Photo: C.Suresh Kumar

Mata Amritanandamayi and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi at a function conection with 'Amiritavarsham 60' at Amritapuri in Kollam onThursday. Photo: C.Suresh Kumar

The three-day celebrations to mark the 60th birthday of spiritual leader Mata Amritanandamayi which began at Amritapuri near here on Wednesday saw the launch of a slew of social service-oriented programmes and a number of new scientific advancements and prototypes made by Amrita University on Thursday.

A number of dignitaries participated, including Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.

The celebrations will conclude on Friday with customary spiritual programmes.

While Mr. Modi launched the social service programmes and the scientific prototypes, Mr. Chandy launched charity programmes announced in connection with the celebrations. The function also witnessed the inauguration of Amrita University’s Centre for Spiritual Studies jointly by Swami Prakashananda, president of Sivagiri Math.

Bahuguna to attend

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna will be the chief guest on Friday. The final day celebrations will see at least six Governors at the venue and Union and State Ministers too.

On Wednesday an international seminar on “Our Villages, Our World, What Can We Offer” was inaugurated by the former President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Prominent among the speakers were eminent scientist Dr. M.S. Swaminathan and Nobel laureate Dr. Leland H. Hartwell.

Village adoption announced

As part of the birthday celebrations, Mata Amritanandamayi has announced the adoption of 101 villages with the aim of making them self-reliant and role models for the country.

“People, especially the women in our villages, are suffering due to domestic violence, caused by alcohol abuse. The men return home drunk and beat up their wives. We aim to find solutions to all such problems,” the Mata has said.

Relief package

A Rs. 50-crore relief-and-rehabilitation project for the flood-ravaged State of Uttarakhand was also announced.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.