Former President A P J Abdul Kalam, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna and Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will be among the dignitaries attending the 60th birthday celebrations of spiritual leader Mata Amritanandamayi in Amritapuri near here from September 25 to 27. The celebrations will be heralded by a three-day prayer for world peace set to commence on Sunday.
A statement from the Mata Amritanandamayi Math said that around five lakh people were expected to attend the celebrations, titled ‘Amritavarsham 60’. Math’s board of trustees vice-chairman Amritaswarupananda Puri said on Saturday that the core part of the celebrations would span for three days, starting September 25. On September 25 and 26, an international summit, titled ‘Our Villages, Our World: What Can We Offer?’, will be held on Amritapuri campus of Amrita University.
The inaugural function will include addresses by A P J Kalam, eminent scientist M S Swaminathan and Nobel laureate Leland H Hartwell. Many other renowned scholars, senior government officials, business leaders, environmentalists, scientists and educationalists will be present. “The concept is to use the ideas generated by the summit and implement them in our 101 village adoption programme,” the swami said. “On September 26, Modi will unveil a number of new scientific inventions and prototypes by Amrita University that we are offering to society. These include a wireless ECG-monitoring system called ‘Amrita Spandanam’ and a personal safety alert system, that has more than 15 features, for women in distress,” he said.
The main project to be unveiled this year is a programme to adopt 101 villages across the country, with the intention of making them self-reliant role-model villages, the swami said, stating that this would be launched on September 27. On the evening of the same day, Oommen Chandy will inaugurate a set of new charitable ventures of Mata’s ashram.