Anandamayi Ma facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Sri Anandamayi Ma |
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Studio photo of Anandamayi Ma
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| Birth Date | 30 April 1896 Kheora, Brahmanbaria District, Bengal Presidency, British Raj (present-day Bangladesh) |
| Died on | 27 August 1982 (aged 86) Kishenpur, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India |
| Birth name | Nirmala Sundari |
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Anandamayi Ma (born Nirmala Sundari; April 30, 1896 – August 27, 1982) was a famous spiritual leader from India. She was a saint and a yoga teacher. A well-known spiritual teacher, Sivananda Saraswati, called her "the most perfect flower the Indian soil has produced." Her followers believed she had special abilities, like knowing the future or healing people. The name Anandamayi means "Joy-permeated" in an ancient Indian language called Sanskrit. Her followers gave her this name in the 1920s because she always seemed to be filled with happiness and peace.
Contents
About Anandamayi Ma
Her Early Life
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Anandamayi Ma was born Nirmala Sundari Devi on April 30, 1896. Her parents, Bipinbihari Bhattacharya and Mokshada Sundari Devi, were devout Hindus from the Brahmin family group. She was born in a village called Kheora, which is now in Bangladesh. Her father was a singer who loved his faith deeply. Even though her family was respected, they lived in poverty.
Nirmala went to village schools for only a few months. Her teachers liked her, but her mother sometimes worried. Nirmala was always calm and happy, even when her mother was very sick. This made relatives wonder why she seemed so unaffected.
In 1908, when she was almost 13, Nirmala was married to Ramani Mohan Chakrabarti. This was a common practice in villages at that time. She later called her husband Bholanath. For five years after her marriage, she lived at her brother-in-law's house. She did housework but often seemed to be in a deep, quiet, meditative state. A neighbor named Harakumar noticed her special spiritual presence. He started calling her "Ma" (meaning "Mother") and bowed to her every day.
When Nirmala was about 17, she moved to live with her husband in Ashtagram. In 1918, they moved to Bajitpur, where she stayed until 1924.
In August 1922, when she was 26, Nirmala performed her own spiritual initiation ceremony. She said the steps for the ceremony came to her naturally. Even though she had no formal training, the complex rituals were like ancient Hindu traditions. She later said, "As the master, I revealed the mantra; as the disciple, I accepted it."
Life in Dhaka
In 1924, Nirmala and her husband moved to Shahbag. Her husband worked as a gardener for the Nawab of Dhaka. During this time, Nirmala often went into states of spiritual joy during public kirtans (devotional singing).
Jyotiscandra Ray, also known as "Bhaiji," was one of her first and closest followers. He was the one who first suggested calling her Anandamayi Ma. This means "Joy Permeated Mother." Bhaiji helped build the first ashram (a spiritual retreat) for Anandamayi Ma in 1929. It was located in Ramna, near the Ramna Kali Mandir. In 1926, she also helped restore an old Kali temple. More and more people felt drawn to her, seeing her as a living example of the divine.
Moving to Dehradun
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After moving to Dehradun, many scholars and thinkers were drawn to Anandamayi Ma. They admired her wisdom and message of love. Even so, she always described herself as "a little unlettered child." Famous scholars like Gopinath Kaviraj and Triguna Sen became her followers. Uday Shankar, a famous dancer, was also impressed by her ideas about dance.
She lived at the same time as other well-known Hindu saints, such as Sri Aurobindo and Paramahansa Yogananda.
Her Passing Away
Anandamayi Ma passed away on August 27, 1982, in Dehradun. A special shrine, called a Samadhi (shrine), was built for her. It is in the courtyard of her ashram in Kankhal, Haridwar, in northern India.
Her Teachings
Anandamayi Ma never wrote down her talks or prepared speeches. People found it hard to write down what she said because she spoke quickly. Also, her playful way with words in Bengali was often lost when translated. However, her assistant, Gurupriya Devi, and a follower, Brahmachari Kamal Bhattacharjee, tried to write down her words before recording devices were common.
A main idea in her teaching was that the most important goal for every person is to understand their true self. She believed all other duties were less important. She also said that "only actions that awaken a person's divine nature are truly worthwhile." However, she did not tell everyone to give up their normal lives.
She often said, "Everyone is right from his own standpoint." She did not give formal spiritual initiations and did not want to be called a guru (teacher). She believed that "all paths are my paths" and "I have no particular path."
She did not say that one spiritual method was best for everyone. She explained, "How can one limit the infinite by saying 'this is the only path'?" She believed that God reveals Himself in many ways, so each person can grow according to their own nature. She welcomed people from many different faiths, including Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jews, Sikhs, and Buddhists. Everyone was welcome, and she was comfortable guiding people from all backgrounds. Even today, the Muslim people in her hometown of Kheora still call her "our own Ma."
She taught people how to live a life focused on God while still being part of the world. She inspired thousands to aim for this noble goal. She also believed in spiritual equality for women. For example, she allowed women to take part in the sacred thread ritual, which had only been for men for centuries. However, only those who met the moral requirements could participate. Her teaching style included jokes, songs, and advice on daily life. She also encouraged silent meditation and reading holy books.
She often spoke about herself as "this body" or "this little girl." This is a common spiritual practice in Hinduism to help separate oneself from the ego. Paramahansa Yogananda wrote about her in his famous book, Autobiography of a Yogi.
Her teachings are still published regularly in a magazine called Amrit Varta. It comes out every three months in English, Hindi, Gujarati, and Bengali. The Sri Sri Anandamayi Sangha in Haridwar holds an annual event called Samyam Mahavrata. During this week, people gather for group meditation, spiritual talks, and devotional music.
See Also
In Spanish: Anandamayi Ma para niños
- Bhakti yoga
- Robert Adams
- Ravi Shankar
