Author: amma-in

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First anniversary of Brahmasthanam temple

25th Mar, 2009, Pratishtha Mahotsav
As the devotees may recall the Prana Pratishtha of an unique Brahmasthanam Temple in Kolkata was performed by Her Holiness Mata Amritanandamayi Devi on 19th March 2008 in a grand manner. To commemorate the 1st anniversary of this Brahmasthanam Pratishtha Mahotsav, Poojya Swamiji Amritaswarupananda Puri visited Kolkata on 25th March 2009. He led the dawn to dusk celebrations.

Amidst chanting of Lalita Sahasranamavali, Meditation, Satsang and Bhajans led by Poojya Swamiji, the ashram reverberated with a spiritual and festive fervour. The celebrations were attended by more than a thousand devotees who were also served Prasad, three times in the day. Poojya Swamiji gave an inspiring talk on ‘Acceptance & Attitude’ and led melodious Bhajan sessions at noon and in the evening. He also served Maha Prasad after the noon session and distributed Prasad after the evening one.

Shivaratri Celebrations

24th Feb, 2009

Maha Shivaratri was celebrated in the Bramasthanam Temple at the Ashram premises, in a very grand manner. The programs started from early morning of 23rd February and was evenly distributed throughout the day with Special Rudra Abhishekam, Maha Mrityunjaya Homam, Satsang on Shiva Mahima , Shiva Manasa Pooja at different pre-selected hours and finally ended with 108 Kalasha Abhishekam followed by Aarati and Prasad on the early morning of 24th February.

Local devotees had gathered in large numbers at the temple premises to offer puja on this auspicious day to Lord Shiva. This unique occasion enabled them to individually offer pujas particularly during Kalasha Abhisekham.

Brahmachari gave a talk on the Mahima of Maha Shivaratri The programs also included recitation of Guru strotram, Bhajan, Arati, and distribution of Prasad to all.

AILA relief work

When cyclone Aila hit West Bengal and Bangladesh on 25 May 2009, volunteers MAM Kolkata, began relief work, with doctors from Amrita Institute of Medical Science (AIMS) in Kochi, Kerala, flying to Kolkata on 29th May. A medical camp commenced on 30th May in the village of Maipith Naginabad (South 24 Parganas District, West Bengal).

The camps were conducted for a total of 10 days, with the doctors treating approximately 3,000 people, dispensing more than one-lakh rupees worth of free medicine (US $2,080). MAM volunteers also distributed approximately 800 pieces clothing and blankets, served 6,000 FREE meals and gave away two tons of rice.

read more from the blog
first day at Cyclone relief camp
Started the camp
Off to a new village
Cyclone Aila Deulbari Village

 

Amrita Kuteerams in Durgapur

As part of its Amrita Kuteeram Scheme, a free housing project for the homeless needy, MAM constructed 108 independent “pucca” homes. Each home has a size of approximately 220 square feet floor area. A plot of land for building these free houses was allotted by Asansol Durgapur Development Authority (ADDA) at Amravati in Durgapur. After successful completion of the construction of these houses, they were handed over to the homeless poor identified by Durgapur Municipality.

 
Upon the successful completion of the 108 Amrita Kuteerams in Amravati, Durgapur’s administration encouraged MAM to initiate and execute one more free housing project for the poor along with ADDA. An agreement for building another 500 free houses was signed. 5 acres of land were allotted for construction of the first phase of 250 houses in Bidhan Nagar.

 
The foundation stone for this project was laid by Sri Somnath Chatterjee, former speaker of Lok Sabha, Government of India. The cost of this project was about Rs. 1 crore. By Amma’s grace, it was completed in 2004.In Dec 2004, at a glittering function, the keys to the Amrita Kuteerams were handed over to beneficiaries by Sri Ashok Bhattacharya, Honorable Minister for Urban Development, Government of West Bengal.

Amrita Kuteerams in Panihati, Kolkata

Free Housing Project at Panihati, Kolkata
In 2004, on an initiative from Sri Ashok Bhattacharya, Honorable Minister of Urban Development, Government of West Bengal, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signedby MAM and  Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) jointly construct 275 multi-storied houses at Panihati, Shodepur.

The cost of this project of building 275 FREE houses for the needy was Rs. 2.5 Crores. Both MAM and KMDA shared this cost equally. However, when its ready to be given away to the beneficiaries, 250 would be allotted by KMDA and 25 would be allotted by MAM.

After laying the foundation stone for this project Ashok Bhattacharya told the media reporters about the issue of a Communist government associating itself with a spiritual organization that “The government is not concerned about the religious nature of the institution. What the government sees is the good work being done by the MAM, to uplift the downtrodden people of the society and in this activity the government is happy to associate with MAM.

For this project, an one acre picturesque plot of land on the banks of beautiful Ganges has been assigned. MAM has built four multi-storied buildings which accounts for 275 residential units. Each unit has a living room along with an attached bath and a small kitchen. The buildings are designed to have provisions for running water supply as well as electric power for 24 hours a day. A small hall has been constructed for conducting functions and other festivities.

This residential colony would also have plantations, a proper sewage disposal system, and internal roads. Due to the massive 2004 tsunami rehabilitation work taken up by MAM, Kuteeram project at Panihati got delayed by two years. These Amrita Kuteerams were inaugurated by Amma during her visit to Kolkata in March, 2010.