Amma’s 51st Birthday Celebration

The 51st birthday of Satguru Mata Amritanandamayi Devi was celebrated jointly by the Oakbrook, Chicago and Northwest Indiana satsangs at the Indian American Center, Merrilville, Indiana on October 2nd, 2004.

The programs started with the chanting of Dhyana slokam by all attendees. Balan Nair delivered the welcome address after which Sethu Menon chanted Guru Stotram. The Northwest Indiana satsang led the chanting of Amma’s 108 holy names and Balan Nair led the chanting of the 108 names of the Divine Mother. Following this Dr. Unni conducted a thought-provoking satsang on Amma, and Manoj read from Amma’s teachings. Gail Volpe then spoke on the impact of Amma on her life. Dr. Rajendran Raja made an important announcement on the upcoming Amma Center at Chicago and requested the co-operation and seva from everybody for the realization of this project.

A delicious lunch, prepared by Amma’s children, was then served. In the afternoon a variety of cultural programs started with a Bharatnatyam performance by Shilpa. Then all children symbolically presented a sweet birthday present to Amma through their artistic expressions on “World Peace” - a subject so dear to her. The participants of this joint presentation were Leela ( 6; Fine Art ), Varsha ( 6; Fine Art ), Arjun ( 10; Story ), Harsh ( 11; Fine Art ), Varun ( 11; Essay ), Shilpa ( 11; Fine Art ), Maya ( 13; Poetry ), Gopal ( 13; Poetry ) and Puja ( 13; Poetry ). A dance performance was presented by Leela, Varsha, Shilpa, Puja and Maya. A Dandia dance was presented jointly by the members of NW Indiana and Oakbrook satsangs. The participants were Tara, Krishna, Vinoo, Priya, Manjula, Manju, Maya and Deepa. A session of melodious bhajans was presented jointly by the two satsangs.

The celebrations concluded with Mahishasura Mardini Stotram, Aarti, Closing Prayers and chanting of “Lokaha Samasthaha Sukhino Bhavanthu” for world peace. Dr. Unni delivered Vote of Thanks. Tara was the overall Master of Ceremonies.