Guest guest Posted February 5, 2005 Report Share Posted February 5, 2005 http://www.starofmysore.com/main.asp?type=specialnews&item=708 Amme Sharanam, ota Apart from resulting in death of thousands of residents in the affected regions, the devastating Dec. 26 tsunami waves left lakhs of people homeless creating a trail of misery beyond limits of human endurance. Mata Amritanandamayi, whose Ashram at Amritapuri near Quilon in Kerala is close to the Arabian Sea, led her devotees and volunteers in a great rescue act saving life and offering succour to the survivors. Star of Mysore was shown a video CD of Amma's act following the disaster, on the eve of her visit to Mysore for two days on Feb. 6 and 7, 2005. Here is a brief narration of the happenings — Ed. Multi-storeyed buildings have been raised by the Mata Amritanandamayi Charitable Trust in Bogadi II stage, Mysore and many other places. Mata Amritanandamayi, affectionately referred to as 'Amma', used to give darshan in thatched huts upto almost ten years ago. United Nations Amma was heard with rapt attention by world's leaders of nearly 190 countries in the United Nations General Assembly in New York as well its establishment in Geneva in the year 2002, after the prestigious Gandhi - King Award for outstanding achievements towards world peace was presented to her. Not resting on such laurels, Amma led and is continuing to lead rescue operations for the benefit of survivors of the Dec. 26 tsunami devastation on India's coasts. It all happened all of a sudden at 11.30 am. The inmates of the Mata Amritanandamayi Mutt in Amritapuri, barely 100 metres from the Arabian Sea coast, panicked as sea water erupted as giant waves and engulfed the Mutt premises, subsequently entering the ground floor of the multi-storeyed structure. On being informed, Amma who was leading the Brahmacharis and Brahmacharinis as well the devotees, all numbering about 15,000 in Meditation, sprang to her feet and personally saw to it that, as an emergency step and without any immediate alternative, all the inmates moved to the second and higher floors of the buildings. The damage to houses, coconut trees and other standing crops were very heavy about three kilometres away from the Mutt. Amma exhorted the devotees and volunteers to chant verses from the Bhagavadgita in chorus and soon prepared them to face the consequences of the unexpected devastation with calmness. After several hours, when the fury of the waves and swirling waters came down, it was there for everybody to see that not a single person had perished in the devastation, not any cattle had succumbed. Even the Mutt elephant was moved to safety. A large number of volunteers belonging to Rashtreeya Swa-yamsevak Sangh also joined the Mutt inmates in the rescue act of a massive scale. They soon got busy in organising food and serving it in an orderly manner, although everything in the Mutt kitchen including 10,000 plates, had been washed away. Prayer In order to restore order among the thousands who had panicked and to instill confidence that nothing would hurt them, Amma organised mass prayer on the roof top of the 14-storeyed building in the Mutt. Swimming Amma, being adept at swimming and fearless, personally led the able bodied among the Mutt inmates to go to the cellar of the building where some of the volunteers had been trapped under water. The rescue operations were enlarged to provide clothes and the much needed provisions to the beleagured families. The volunteers were formed into teams and deployed on the task of constructing shelters for the homeless, starting from day one. Amma personally carried heavy stones which was emulated by all, including tiny and frail-bodied kids in the rehabilitation work. Nagapattinam On learning about the scale of devastation in Nagapattinam District of Tamil Nadu, Amma toured the coastline and deployed the volunteers of the Mutt on rescue work there, with local assistance and Government machinery. Medicines worth Rs. 5 lakh were distributed among the needy within 48 hours of the disaster. Six ambulances of the Mutt were pressed into service for moving the sick to medical camps. Amma not only announced future plans for rebuilding the lives of the survivors but also dedicated an amount of Rs. 100 crores for the construction of shelters. Under the relief programme, 2,000 new pucca houses will be constructed in Nagapattinam District for the surviving homeless families. She has also taken five students from among those families to study B.Ed. course in the Mysore based college of the Mutt. —BRS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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