KOLLAM: THE 64th birthday of Mata Amritanandamayi will be celebrated on the Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham Engineering College Campus, here, on Monday. Union Minister for Statistics and Programme Implementation D V Sadananda Gowda, Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Jual Oram, Minister of State for Human Resources Satyapal Singh and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurian will attend the programme.According to Math vice-chairman Swami Amritaswarupananda Puri, the birthday observance programme will commence with the ‘Guru pada pooja’ at 9 am and will be followed by Amritanandamayi’s birthday message.
“We are expecting lakhs of devotees from within and outside the country. We have arranged all facilities for them. Apart from celebrating the birth anniversary, the devotees, as well as the Math, are considering it as an opportunity for social service,” said Amritaswarupananda Puri. Ports Minister Ramachandran Kadannappally, Karnataka Fisheries Minister Pramodh Madhvaraj, Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala, MPs and MLAs will attend the birth anniversary conference.It will be followed by the presentation of Amritakeerti Puraskar to M Lakshmi Kumari for her noteworthy contributions to education about Sanatana Dharma.
The award, presented annually since 2001 to individuals making outstanding contributions in the fields of spirituality, philosophy, science and literature, carries a cash prize of Rs 1, 23,456, a statuette of Goddess Saraswathi by sculptor Namboodiri and a citation.