Amma – Embracing the world for peace and harmony

The inspiration behind Amma Canada, Amma is well known for her humanitarian works by world organizations such as the United Nations.

Born as Sudhamani, on September 27th, 1953 in a tiny fishing village in Kerala in India, Amma spent much of her life tending to the poor. She established an Ashram in India in 1981.

Her Sanskrit name is ‘Mata Amritanandamayi’ which means Mother of immortal bliss. To millions around the world she is known as “Amma”(Mother). The Western press has nicknamed her as the ‘Hugging Saint’ because of her famous hug-blessings. Also known as the ‘Mother of compassion’, she attracts crowds, that get larger year after year. Every year Amma visits Japan, USA, Canada, Australia, Europe, Mauritius, Reunion Islands, and various parts of India. Amma has been visiting Canada every summer since 2004.

She has addressed the general assembly of the United Nations on special occasions such as the millennium summit (2000) and the conference for women in Geneva (2002).

In 2002 she was presented the prestigious Gandhi-King award for Non-violence at the United Nations assembly hall (Palais des Nations) in Geneva in recognition of her lifelong work in furtherance of the principles of non violence. The previous recipients of this award are Kofi Annan, Nelson Mandela, and Jane Goodall. Amma has also been the recipient of the annual award by the Interfaith Center of New York in 2006.

To see videos on Amma please visit:  http://www.youtube.com/ammafootage