The city of Kochi was the final stop of Amma’s 13-day yatra from Mangaluru to Kerala’s financial capital. Like the bountiful rains of the monsoon season, she poured her river of love over the city, arriving at the Ernakulam Brahmasthanam Temple at dusk on June 5 for her programs on June 6 and 7.
The temple grounds were like a traditional Kerala kaavu. Amma often speaks about these sacred groves as natural sanctuaries where nature is worshipped. Amidst the verdant canopy, the Brahmastanam Temple shone magically with vibrant yellow marigold garlands and glowing fairy lights. Devotees in Ernakulam waited with folded hands and full hearts, listening to the resounding chants of mantras and the rhythms of temple percussion.
Suryan Jayasuryan Bhattathiri is a high priest from Kerala’s historic Suryakaladi Mana. He bowed in reverence to Amma, thus upholding the traditions of his ancient and highly revered family lineage of Vedic scholars and priests. He offered her the Purna Kumbham—an overflowing pot to the one who is herself purnam, the fullness of all.
True to her selfless nature, Amma sat in meditation with the gathered devotees the moment she arrived. Forgoing even a moment of rest, she was eager only to be with her children—singing bhajans and lovingly serving food to each and every one.
The following day, Edappally was swept away by devotion as people gathered from all across the district. Amma arrived with her innate humility, bowing before the crowd as the festivities began. Renowned writer and Amritakeerti awardee Sri C. Radhakrishnan offered a moving tribute as a distinguished guest.
“Everything begins with Amma,” he said. “Just as every particle on this Earth is interconnected, Amma is able to communicate with each and every being—and that is something truly magnificent.”
As part of the festival, sarees were distributed to AmritaSREE Self-Help Group members from Ernakulam district. Every woman’s name was called out lovingly as they came forward with self-confidence. Amma cares for everyone with equal love and compassion.
To honour the bond between humanity and nature, Amma kissed and handed out saplings to Amrita Vidyalayam students as part of World Environment Day. Each child happily accepted this precious gift, promising to love and nurture the baby trees until they become strong.
“Love is the capital of life. If we lose it, we become completely bankrupt. We should strive to earn more of the profit called love and fill the treasury of our hearts.This human life is meant to be born in love, to live in love and to eventually end in love. In truth, there is no end to pure love,” said Amma in her sweet and profound satsang.
“Love connects every being in creation. Whether humans or animals, it is the power of love that binds a child to its mother and a mother to her child. Unfortunately, today, even though most of us spend our entire lives in search of love, we typically die without ever finding it. In reality, the feeling that is the closest to our True Self and most familiar to us is love. It is our true nature.”
A deep meditation followed, with Amma providing careful instructions for Manasa Puja (mental worship) before leading radiant bhajans, shining the eternal truth into each open heart. Afterward, she began her tireless darshan. Her unbroken embrace continued into the early hours of the morning, ensuring every soul received personal love from their mother.
The following day, Ernakulam’s own celebrated actor Amala Paul addressed the gathering. Known for her unconventional, bold, and female-centric roles, she has established herself as a leading contemporary voice in Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, and Hindi cinema.
“I was yearning for that hug,” she expressed with gratitude. “That’s all we wanted. Amma’s magical hug!”
In her message on day two, Amma returned to the theme of love and humility.
“Love is like an overflowing river, but to drink from it, we have to bend down. We need humility to recognize that we are mere instruments in the hands of God. The power behind everything we do is God. We need to focus on what we can give to the world rather than what we can take from it.”
As she spoke, the sound of singing frogs filled the air as if Nature herself was listening in celebration of Amma’s words.
“When love fills the heart and overflows, flowers of peace will blossom all around us. The way of equal vision and unity is the royal path to a beautiful and inclusive world where all differences vanish. As this equal vision increases in society, the lost harmony of the world can be regained. Amma offers a prayer to the Paramātmān that this vision of unity may shine in all her children!”
The beautiful programs in Ernakulam were overseen by Swami Purnamritananda Puri, one of Amma’s senior disciples. He spoke lovingly, ”After six years, Amma has arrived in Ernakulam once again.”
He emphasized how the festival took shape through everyone’s selfless service.“ Amma’s Brahmasthanam Temple Festival is an opportunity for service. From little children to students and youth, we can see a tradition here where people from all walks of life volunteer to serve God through sacrifice, ” he said.
The warm reception was led by Swamiji, alongside Swami Anaghamritananda Puri, Dr. Prem Nair (Group Medical Director, Amrita Hospitals), Advocate Sreekumar, Dr. U. Krishnakumar, A.S. Raghunath, Sivaramakrishnan, Pradeep Gangadharan, and B. Prakash Babu.
Over the two-day festival, many prominent other dignitaries from political, cultural, and spiritual spheres also came forward to garland Amma and pay tribute.
On the first day, guests included Ernakulam District Collector G. Priyanka, City Police Commissioner Kaliraj Mahesh Kumar, N P Oil Director Duvvuri Seshagiri, musician Rahul Raj, Ernakulam DFO Manu Sathyan, Thantra Vidya Peetham Executive Director Gopalakrishnan Kunji, Samskrita Bharati National Secretary Dr. P. Nandakumar, Nirmal Jyothi Public School Chairman Gopal K. Nair, and Ranjith Kanchilal.
On the second day, Amma was honoured by Kochi Mayor V.K. Minimol, MLAs T.J. Vinod and Deepak Joy, Justice C.N. Ramachandran, retired Justice P.R. Raman, Kochi Metro MD Loknath Behera IPS, Kannur University Vice-Chancellor Dr. K.K. Saju, Central Warehousing Corporation Director C.K.V. Pradeep Kumar, and Venugopal C. Govind.
After two beautiful long nights of rain, darshan, and festivities, the two-day Annual Brahmasthanam Festival at Edappally drew to a close. Thousands of people were welcomed into that loving embrace that knows no bounds. The river of love that is Amma keeps flowing, gathering hearts along the way and merging us all into that wondrous state of oneness that dissolves all barriers and brings true hope to our world.
