Mata Amritanandamayi

In India, the Mata Amritanandamayi Math provides 10 million free meals to poor people annually via its various centres. Likewise, Embracing the World feed more than 150,000 annually in North America through 49 centres that conduct a program called "Mother’s Kitchen," started in 1987. Other feed-the-hungry programs exist in Mexico, Costa Rica, France, Spain, Kenya, Brazil, Slovenia and Australia. The Math is also currently deploying filtration systems with the goal of providing clean drinking water in 5,000 village centres throughout India, which would provide water purification to 10 million villagers.

Amritanandamayi is founder and chancellor of Amrita University, a five-campus, multi-disciplinary research university that in 2019 was ranked as the eighth-best university in India by NIRF, is accredited with an 'A' grade by NAAC, and was selected as an "Institute of Eminence" by the Indian Government in 2019. Under Amritanandamayi's guidance, the university puts a strong focus on research-and-development to uplift the sick and poor. The Mata Amritanandamayi Math also runs a scholarship program that currently provides 50,000 scholarships for economically challenged children throughout India, and Embracing the World provides scholarships outside of India in times of need, such as in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.

On 11 September 2015, Amritanandamayi donated US$15 million to the Government of India's Namami Gange "Clean the Ganges" program for the specific purpose of constructing toilets for poor families living along the Ganges River. On 27 September 2015, Amritanandamayi pledged that her NGO would dedicate the value of another US$15 million to toilet construction and other sanitation efforts specifically in the Indian state of Kerala. Amritanandamayi's organization has been cleaning the Pampa River and Sabarimala Kerala Temple pilgrimage site annually since 2012.

In her public talks and in articles, Amritanandamayi has taken up several social issues, including the importance of selfless service, the need for inter-religious harmony, for environmental protection and of desegregating science and spirituality. She also regularly speaks on the importance of women's empowerment and gender equality as well as that of humankind cultivating what she refers to as viśva-mātrutvam — an attitude of motherliness towards all beings in creation, specifically through expressing compassion, patience and selflessness. She has also spoken out against human trafficking and forced prostitution, speaking at the Vatican and signing the Universal Declaration Against Slavery in an event organized by Pope Francis at the Vatican in 2014. And in 2018, under the patronage of Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, she participated in a similar event aimed at protecting children from abuse and predation via the Internet. In July 2015, Amritanandamayi delivered the keynote address at a United Nations Academic Impact conference on technology and sustainable development, co-hosted by Amrita University. There, she requested the scientific community to infuse its research with awareness and compassion, stressing the importance of keeping the aim of uplifting the poor and suffering in mind when undertaking technological research. She has spoken several times at the United Nations and twice at the Parliament of the World's Religions.

In 2013, Gail Tredwell, a former disciple of Amṛtānandamayī, self-published a memoir of her 1980–99 tenure in Amṛtānandamayī's ashram. She made some allegations in this memoir as well as media interviews which preceded and followed the release of the book. The allegations, including the claim that Tredwell was physically assaulted by Amṛtānandamayī, have not been substantiated. Both Amṛtānandamayī and representatives of her ashram denied the allegations, saying that they were untrue and were aimed at exacting revenge for unfulfilled desires. In an interview in April 2014, Amṛtānandamayī spoke in depth about the incident, saying, "Even now, Amma is only filled with love for that daughter. I am praying that virtue and goodness come. Time will shine forth the truth."

On 1 August 2012, a 25-year-old law student from Bihar, Satnam Singh Mann, attempted to barge onto the podium of Amṛtānandamayī at her ashram in Kollam. According to police, he was screaming and reciting words in Arabic. He was overpowered by devotees, who handed him over to the police.

Amṛtānandamayī's disciples have transcribed her conversations with devotees and spiritual seekers to create approximately a dozen books of her teachings known as Awaken Children. The addresses she has delivered at various international forums have also been published in book form. Beginning in April 2011, a bi-weekly message from Amṛtānandamayī has appeared in the Lifestyle section of the Express Buzz Sunday supplement of the New Indian Express newspaper. She also writes a regular blog in the spiritual publication Speaking Tree.

In June 2007, Shantanu Guha Ray wrote in Tehelka weekly that Amṛtānandamayī Math, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Baba Ramdev, and other NGOs and religious organisations had large annual turnover of INR crores. In June 2007, novelist Paul Zacharia wrote on Tehelka that Amṛtānandamayī is free from the typical scrutiny on money that has foreign connections. In May 2008, the president of Kerala Yukthivadi Sangham, U. Kalanathan, urged the state government to conduct an enquiry into Amṛtānandamayī's assets. He said the sources of her income and its utilisation should be investigated. In June 2008, writer Sukumar Azhikode demanded the state government to probe the source of foreign aid received by her organisation.

In August 2005, Amṛtānandamayī was attacked by a man named Pavithran. He was sitting with other followers praying and singing in front of Amṛtānandamayī. He then rushed to Amṛtānandamayī with a knife, but was overpowered by a group of disciples. Amritanandamayi's disciple Swami Amritaswarupananda Puri said Pavithran was of "unstable mind". Pavithran was also bruised and taken to a hospital immediately. Amritanandamayi, who forgave Pavithran, said, "All those who are born will die one day. I am going ahead keeping this reality in mind. I will carry on. I will continue to give darshan to the devotees coming here to meet me."

In 2004, the Kerala State Government sanctioned criminal prosecution of Patthathanam, the owner of the publishing company, and the printer of the book on grounds that religious sentiments had been offended and for the libelous statements in the book. The order followed directions from the Kerala High Court to the Home Department for considering an application by T.K. Ajan, a resident of the Mata Amṛtānandamayī Math. CPI leader Thengamam Balakrishnan protested the move against Pattathanam.

When asked, in 2002, to what extent she thought her embraces helped the ills of the world, Amṛtānandamayī replied, "I don't say I can do it 100 percent. Attempting to change the world [completely] is like trying to straighten the curly tail of a dog. But society takes birth from people. So by affecting individuals, you can make changes in the society and, through it, in the world. You cannot change it, but you can make changes. The fight in individual minds is responsible for the wars. So if you can touch people, you can touch the world."

On 9 August 2002, Deshabhimani, a Malayalam daily newspaper published a similar account, demanding investigation into the same deaths Pattathanam found suspicious. On 24 September 2002, Deshabhimani officially apologised for the report, publishing an article titled "Report that Suspicious Deaths at Amritanandamayi Math Are Growing Was Incorrect". The article stated: "We now state with conviction that there was nothing suspicious about deaths that happened in the Math. Some of the deaths mentioned in the article did not even take place at the Math." The article went on to explain that relatives of the deceased had personally contacted Deshabhimani in order to correct the misinformation conveyed in the original article. In several cases, the editors noted the relatives had contacted Deshabhimani to explain they were at the bedsides of elderly kin who had died of natural causes, with no suspicious aspects regarding the passings.

Within India, the Mata Amritanandamayi Math has been involved in relief-and-rehabilitation efforts following natural disasters since 2001, and Embracing the World has come to aid in the wake of several disasters outside of India as well. Embracing the World has provided a total of $75 million in disaster-relief work since 2004. The disasters after which the Mata Amritanandamayi Math and Embracing the world have conducted relief-and-rehabilitation work include: the 2001 Gujarat earthquake, the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, Hurricane Katrina (2005), the 2008 Bihar flood, the 2005 Gujarat flood, the Maharashtra floods of 2005, Cyclone Aila of 2009, the 2010 Haiti Earthquake, the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the 2013 North India floods, Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, the 2014 India–Pakistan floods, the May 2015 Nepal earthquake, the 2015 South Indian floods, the Puttingal temple fire of 2016, Hurricane Maria of 2017, Cyclone Ockhi of 2017, the 2018 Kerala floods, and the 2019 Kerala floods. In 2019, the Math gave Rs. 500,000 to each of the families of the 40 CRPF soldiers who were killed in the 2019 Pulwama attack.

Since 1998, the Mata Amritanandamayi Math has constructed over 47,000 houses for the homeless in 75 locations throughout India. It also runs an orphanage for 500 children in Kerala, and Embracing the World manages a children’s home in Nairobi.

The Mata Amritanandamayi Math manages the 1,100-bed super-speciality hospital Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences in Kochi, which it launched in 1998, as well as several other free healthcare clinics, medicine dispensaries, hospices in India. It is also in the process of constructing a 2,000-bed hospital in Delhi NCR. In total, the math has provided totally free medical care and surgeries to more than four million people since 1998. This includes super-specialty surgeries including heart surgeries, brain surgeries and kidney transplants. Aside from free treatment, Amrita Institute provides care on a sliding scale, allowing people to pay what they can afford. This is often a minimal percent of the total medical cost.

In 1998, the Math started a program titled Amrita Nidhi that provides lifetime pensions to destitute widows and to people who are physically and mentally challenged. As of 2019, a total of 100,000 people were enrolled. It also started AmritaSREE (Self-Reliance, Empowerment & Employment) in 2006. This program has helped more than 200,000 women form Self-Help Groups throughout India.

In 1987, at the request of devotees, Amṛtānandamayī began to conduct programs in countries throughout the world. She continues to do so annually.

Sreeni Pattathanam, the Kerala-based head of the Indian Rationalist Association, wrote Matha Amritanandamayi: Sacred Stories and Realities, a controversial critique first published in 1985. The author claimed that all the "miracles" of Amṛtānandamayī were falsified. It was further written that there had been many suspicious deaths in and around her ashram that required police investigation.

Amṛtānandamayī rejected numerous attempts by her parents to arrange for her marriage. In 1981, after spiritual seekers had begun residing at her parents' property in Parayakadavu in the hopes of becoming Amṛtānandamayī's disciples, the Mātā Amṛtānandamayī Math (MAM), a worldwide foundation, was founded. Amṛtānandamayī continues to serve as chairperson of the Math. Today the Mata Amritanandmayi Math is engaged in many spiritual and charitable activities.

Amṛtānandamayī's darshana has been the centerpiece of her life, as she has received people nearly every day since the late 1970s. Given the size of the crowds coming to seek Amṛtānandamayī's blessings, there have been times when she has given darshana for more than 20 continuous hours.

Mātā Amritānandamayī Devī (born Sudhamani Idamannel; 27 September 1953), better known simply as Amma ("Mother"), is an Indian Hindu spiritual leader, guru and humanitarian, who is revered as a hugging saint by her followers.

Mātā Amritānandamayī Devi is an Indian guru from Parayakadavu (now partially known as Amritapuri), Alappad Panchayat in Karunagappally, Kollam District, in the state of Kerala. Born to a family of fishermen in 1953, she was the third child of Sugunanandan and Damayanti. She has six siblings.