Amma Sri Karunamayi (born 1958) is a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

spiritual leader Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

. Sri Karunamayi travels internationally promoting global peace and

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm ...

Early life

Amma Karunamayi was born in South India in 1958. Karunamayi's mother was a devotee of Bhagawan Ramana Maharshi. On one rare occasion Ramana whispered to Karunamayi's mother that she would give birth to "Thai" or the divine mother who would help heal the planet. Encouraged by her parents, Karunamayi spent her childhood in spiritual paths immersed in prayer and worship.

Avatar

Sri Amma Karunamayi's followers claim her to be an

Avatar Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appeara ...

, a manifestation of

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" withi ...

who is born enlightened or fully self-realized. She is called Amma by her devotees, which means "mother" in Amma's native Telugu language and other South Indian languages.

Teaching

Programs

Amma Karunamayi created several charitable programs to help the rural poor and disenfranchised in the extremely poor Andhra Pradesh area where her ashram is located. These provide free educational facilities, housing projects, clean water programs, a free hospital, mobile medical clinics, emergency relief programs, food and clothing donations, and free housing for people who had been dispossessed of their land.

Honors

US Congressman Danny Davis of the Seventh Congressional District of Illinois presented the Golden Eagle Award 2012 to Her Holiness Amma Sri Karunamayi : Bhagavathi Sri Sri Sri Vijayeswari Devi, Founder President of S.M.V.A. Trust, Sri Manidweepa Mahasamsthanam, Nellore District, Andhra Pradesh,India, in recognition of her selfless service and dynamic leadership in providing numerous welfare programs for the underprivileged. "Sri Karunamayi Amma, a Hindu "spiritual" leader";

Television program

Karunamayi has a weekly television program, transmitted in India on Gemini TV and also on Bhakti TV.

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karunamayi, Sri 20th-century Hindu religious leaders 21st-century Hindu religious leaders Hindu female religious leaders Living people 1958 births Women mystics