Amma's History (Edited Post)

OM NAMO NARAYANI

Narayani Jaya Jaya
Narayani Jaya Jaya
Viswaroopa Lokeswari
Narayani Jaya Jaya

Soundarya Subhakamini
Shanghu Chakra Bhavadharini
Narayani Jaya Jaya
Narayani Jaya Jaya

SRI SAKTHI AMMA – HISTORY

The magnificent Universe is manifested with the Power of the Divine. This Power is not seen by the naked eye and this is what we call “God”. This Power is not known to the five senses nor can it be perceived or felt by the five senses. We will be able to understand this Divine Power only if we have the blessings of the Divine.

Manickavasagar, a devotee of Lord Shiva and one of the 63 ‘Nayanmars’ has written a verse in the ancient Tamil scripture ‘Sivapuranam’ which says, “It is only with His blessings that you can worship the Divine”. It is this verse of the ancient scripture that comes to our mind when we say that we will be able to understand this Divine Power only if we have the blessings of the Divine. The Divine Power has no form, colour or characteristic of its own. 

When evil increases, the Divine Power moves from the seat of the Divine and manifests in the form a human being, to re-establish Dharma or Righteousness. This act of the Divine manifestation in the human form is called ‘Avataar’ or Incarnation. The Divine which is actually formless manifests in the human form to lead mankind to the path of righteousness.

The present Age is Kaliyugam. In today’s world, all of us see that there is a decline in Justice, Righteousness and Devotion and Evil is playing a dominant role in one’s life. 

All of us are aware that evil and wickedness is prevailing in the world. Evil has been existing for many years now and has revealed itself in different forms. This has yielded suffering to many good and wise people. The wise people, the sages and devotees prayed to God for the well being of the world and mankind. It is due to their prayers that Goddess Sri Narayani has descended in this world in the form of Sri Sakthi AMMA at Thirumalaikodi, to reduce Adharma or Evil through the various Yagams, Poojas and Blessings to all.

Goddess Sri Narayani is the combined form of Goddess Saraswathi, Goddess Mahalakshmi and Goddess Durga (representing Knowledge, Wealth and Power). All these three attributes have reduced greatly and evil has increased in the world today. Goddess Sri Narayani has manifested in the form of Sri Sakthi AMMA to provide these to the human beings and reduce evil.

The Divine manifests in a human form and descends as an Avataar in order to live along with other human beings, partake in all the sufferings both physically and mentally and then help to reduce the suffering of the people. Therefore, as normal human beings we should not take the Divine Avataar lightly just because of the human form. This will only create more sufferings and ignominy for us.


The meaning of Sri Narayani – ‘A Power that is all pervading or omnipresent’. How has Sri Narayani manifested in the form of Sri Sakthi AMMA. The Divine chooses a place to be born as an Avataar and also decides on the couple who have done virtuous deeds as the parents of this Divinity. The parents would have been people who have done virtuous deeds in all their previous births and are due to gain the love and affection of God.

It is in this manner that Thiru. Nandagopal and Tmt.Jothiammal lived near Vellore in Tamil Nadu. Their family is steeped in the tenets of Vaishnavism and believes strongly in Righteousness. Even though they were a family with less income, they believed in caring and sharing with others. A virtuous family which abounds in performing Poojas. The family had limited desires and earned a good name for its principles and morals. Therefore, it was fitting that they were chosen as the parents of the Divine Mother Sri Narayani. And in this manner, the lady Jothiammal, carried the Divine fetus and gave birth to this Divine Child on 3rd January, 1976. This was the second child to the parents and he was named ‘Satish’. The child had the Divine symbol of ‘Namam’, a distinct mark on its forehead even when it was born. The doctors and nurses were surprised to see this symbol. To some people it seemed as if someone has drawn a line with red coloured ink on the child’s forehead. 

Even after the child was given a bath, the Divine symbol was fresh as if it was drawn just then. (Even today, the symbol can be seen). The Saivites have the habit of smearing the holy ash on the forehead and hence it is said ‘Forehead with ash’. Similarly, the child had a ‘Forehead with the Thirunamam or the Divine symbol’. Those who saw this Divine symbol considered the child to be a Divine child. The mother was blessed during her pregnancy by sages and wise people who revealed to her that she was carrying the Divine child and wished her well.

The love for the Divine Mother was revealed even when the child was a toddler learning to walk. There was much adoration and happiness when the child came across an idol or a picture of the Divine Mother. When all the children use a walker to learn to walk, this child would go around holding the picture of the Divine Mother. The sound of Poojas and the ringing of the temple bells were lullaby for the child. When all the other children were drinking milk, this child would go seeking the milk after the abhishekams at the temples. When the child is taken to the temple, instead of worshipping the deity in the temple, the child would be seen showing the right hand in the form of blessing all the people who visited the temple. Even though the child was taught to fold hands and worship, it was the others who worshipped the child. Such was the wonder that was evinced in the minds of people and the child continued performing miracles as the days went by.

The child was more attached with the landlady of the house, in fact, more than the parents. The landlady used to visit temples often and would take the child along with her. The parents admitted the child to school at the right time. As the child was gaining knowledge through education, his interest in Divinity was also growing at a fast pace in the mind and at a given point, Divinity overtook everything else. If the child happened to hear the temple bells ringing either while going to school or coming back from school, he would start moving towards the temple automatically. Like a magnet attracting a piece of iron, the child was attracted to the poojas that happen in the temples.

One day, when the child had visited the temple of the Divine Mother, a devotee said to this Divine child, “when the pooja is being performed today, do the job of ringing the temple bell”. This gave so much happiness to the young Sri Sakthi AMMA that it was not only this but other such jobs in the temples were also carried out regularly. The temples became more blessed and sacred. Was it only the temples? All the devotees who visited the temples were also blessed. It was indeed a magnificent and astonishing spectacle – ‘the Divine serving the Divine’. This did not happen only then…on that day. It happens even today and many of us reduce our Karma by witnessing the amazing manifestation.

While conducting classes if the teacher happens to mention the words, ‘temple’, ‘God’, ‘Divine’, ‘Pooja’ etc., the child’s mind would start wandering and will unite with the poojas in the temples and it would take a long time to come out of this. This could be explained as a ‘blissful’ state of mind and this bliss and tranquility happens very rarely to others. But this happened at a very young age for Sri Sakthi AMMA. While in this state, AMMA would come up with a number of philosophical teachings and the sparkle of Divinity was evident immensely in the face.

AMMA’s Divinity was revealed in a number of ways. One day a strange event occurred. Malaikodi was a small village near Vellore. There was a co-operative yarn spinning mill that was run by the Government. Sri Sakthi AMMA’s father was an employee in this mill. With the money he earned, he bought a piece of land in Malaikodi and built a small house. The date was fixed for the house-warming ceremony. The day before the function, a huge bush full of thorns was found near the house and they decided to remove this. 

When they had cleared the bush, they found three holes in the earth. AMMA’s mother said to her husband, “It could be a snake hill, so please remove it.” He accepted. But the young AMMA strongly opposed it. AMMA argued, “A snake hill is the abode of the Gods. A snake itself is a form of Goddess, the Divine Mother. There seems to be a great Divinity existing here. It is only good for us and not harmful.” It was decided not to remove the snake hill but to capture the snake if it is there and leave it somewhere else. AMMA was not happy about this decision and was not at peace with the occurrence. AMMA was dejected but submitted to the decision of the parents.

AMMA was the Avataar of the Goddess Sri Narayani. But in the human form it is the duty of the child to obey the parents and AMMA adhered to the world’s principle and remained an example for obedience. They then brought a person to capture the snake and it was then the rare occurrence happened. The snake charmer went close to the snake hill and placed his nose at the mouth of the hill to sense the presence of the snake. It is said that if a snake is in the snake hill, there would be a smell of jasmine and the snake charmer was trying to sense this smell. However, in a few seconds he was lifted and thrown at a distance of about 5 feet. He tried again twice and the same thing happened. He came up and worshipped the snake hill and said, “In all my lifetime, I have not seen an event like this. This seems to be an abode of the Goddess. I will not be able to do anything” and departed. The snake charmer quit his profession since that day. Sakthi AMMA’s face had a knowing smile. The parents looked at Sakthi AMMA with great devotion and faith. The housewarming function was celebrated in a grand manner.

Once the house warming was over, the parents rented the house to a tenant and continued to live in Vellore. The reason was that Sakthi AMMA’s mother was a teacher in a school in Vellore and therefore it was convenient to stay there. It was decided to stay there for sometime and continue to teach. After sometime, Sakthi AMMA’s family moved from Vellore to live in a nearby area called Sattuvachari. However, AMMA’s mind and thoughts continued to linger on the snake hill and the Goddess residing there. Thoughts slowly progressed into action. On Thursdays every week, after school, AMMA would come on a bicycle to Malaikodi and stay the night in a family friend’s place, a person who was working with AMMA’s father. On the next day, Friday, AMMA would wake up early, venture out to the snake hill with all the items required for the Pooja and perform pooja with a lot of devotion.

Soon after the Pooja, AMMA would go to school in the bicycle. This act continued week after week. AMMA was studying in Voorhees High School. The school was blessed as it had the Divine Mother as a student. It continues and will forever be a sacred and blessed school for life. So, the days went by, with AMMA being involved in pooja, education and temple service.

The time was ripe. In May 1992, Sakthi AMMA had visited a temple out of town and was returning in a bus along with other devotees. AMMA was sitting near a window in the bus and was gazing at the sky at a distance. In normal circumstances, all elders or children who travel by bus will be looking at all the sights and scenery around them. No one will stare at the open space. What will they be able to see in the open space? However, only Divinity in human form will view the open space as this gives them an opportunity to see and understand Divine spectacle or vision.

In that manner, when Sakthi AMMA was sitting near the window and staring into the sky, a marvel happened. A ray of energy emanated from AMMA into the sky and took the form of Goddess Narayani and the emanated energy returned back to AMMA and merged with AMMA. Since then AMMA would not talk much. Silence prevailed. Peace ruled. Words were like pearls, not easily available and tranquility increased.

It was a few days after AMMA had seen the Divine vision. One night AMMA was sleeping soundly. AMMA felt that something had fallen on the left side of the face on the top portion of the left cheek.. AMMA woke up and wiped the cheek and found a small boil like a sweat rash. At the
same time, the entire house was filled with the fragrance of camphor and the aroma continued to increase. Sakthi AMMA did not understand this and therefore woke up the mother and asked her about it. “We have not purchased any specially perfumed camphor and I am not getting any smell. It won’t be anything. Just go to sleep” said AMMA’s mother and went back to sleep.

The aroma lasted for 10 minutes and then slowly decreased. By dawn, AMMA had developed extremely high temperature and fever. And the face had small boils like pox. The parents assumed that this was some kind of an allergy and took AMMA to a doctor. The intensity of pox increased. At that time, one of the women in the neighborhood received the Divine blessing (Deiva arul) and in the frenzy said, “I am the Divine Mother and I have descended and manifested on this small boy. Not aware of this, you have taken him to the hospital for treatment and this is wrong. I will take care of this. Do not worry” and then left the woman’s body. The parents then took all measures to cool the angered Goddess and thereafter peace existed.

The fragrance of camphor was an indication of the revelation of the Goddess or Divine Mother. Ordinary human beings do not comprehend the arrival of Divinity and they do not have the strength to perceive it. Since Sakthi AMMA was the Avataar of the Divine Mother, AMMA was able to understand this. If human beings get pox, it will disappear after sometime. In the case of Sakthi AMMA, the Divine Mother remained in AMMA permanently.

Soon after this, on 5th May 1992, Sakthi AMMA came to the house of the old lady, a grandmother, who was very fond of AMMA. AMMA smiled at her and went straight to the Pooja room and called the grandmother in and told her, “Grandma, please perform abhishekam for me with turmeric water?” The Grandmother was surprised and chided the boy saying,” You do not have any other work to do”. But since AMMA asked again, she brought a small vessel containing turmeric water. Sakthi AMMA did not accept this and told the grandmother” Get one whole pot filled with turmeric water and perform the abhishekam.”

Sakthi AMMA’s firm yet mellowed voice controlled the grandmother and also left her spellbound with its charm. She never realized what she was doing. She just went ahead and mixed a pot of turmeric water and performed abhishekam for Sakthi AMMA. “Bring neem leaves” was the next order of Sakthi AMMA. The grandmother immediately went across and got a bunch of neem leaves and gave it in the hands of Sakthi AMMA. In the next second, the Divine boy’s form and voice changed. A Divine face that was beautiful along with a voice that allured people was revealed. Sakthi AMMA then looked at the grandmother and said, “Grandma, what do you think of me? Do not think of me as a child playing pranks with you. I am the Divine Mother ruling this entire Universe”. The grandmother did not understand anything and so stood quietly. Sakthi AMMA held the bunch of neem leaves in her hand and then told the grandmother, “Come and sit in front of me”. The grandmother came and sat in front of AMMA. “Do you know who I am?’ was the question from AMMA. The grandmother answered, “What is this question? You are Satish.” AMMA said, ’this name is given to this human form in this birth. In reality it is not so. If you really want to see who I am, close your eyes and think of your ancestral family deity, meditate and then open your eyes to see me”. The grandmother followed the instructions.

The family deity of the grandmother was “Sholapuri Amman”. She closed her eyes, worshipped the Goddess in her mind, meditated and opened her eyes. She forgot her surroundings. She raised her hands in the form of worship and prostrated before AMMA. At that time, AMMA disclosed in the form of “Sholapuri Amman”, as Sarva Alankara Roopini. “AMMA, please forgive me. If I have done any mistakes without my knowledge, I request you to forgive me” cried the grandmother on seeing this form of AMMA.

“I have descended on this earth as an Avataar of Goddess Mahasakthi Sri Narayani, to save the world. I am a combination of the three attributes of Goddess Sri Saraswathi, Goddess Sri Lakshmi and Goddess Sri Durga. I have manifested in this Avataar to make the world prosperous with these three attributes” was Sakthi AMMA’s message to the grandmother. The grandmother felt that her devotion had made her fortunate to see the Divine and was rendered speechless and was filled with immense happiness.

For some time there was absolute solitude. Sakthi AMMA then moved from the Divine state to normalcy and said, “Grandmother, you will have to convey a message to my parents. That is, ‘your son does not belong only to you. Hereafter the child belongs to the world. The boy who was your son will now become the Divine Mother for the human beings in this world. Therefore, if the child gets separated from you, you should not worry about it’ is what you need to convey to them”. The grandmother first refused to convey this message, but later on accepted to do it. She informed the parents of all that she saw and heard.

As soon as the parents heard this, they began to cry. Who are the parents who will be willing to let go a 16 year old son at such a young age to gain spiritual knowledge, relinquishing home? Divine state is different. Human beings are different. The spiritual tenets spoken when the person is in a Divine state cannot be understood by normal human beings. Humans who are controlled by delusions will not be able to understand the actions of people who are no longer bound by such illusions. For a person who sees Death from a Divine state, it is ‘rest’ for one’s life. But for human beings, Death is a terrible loss. Therefore, the parents looked at the situation from a human being’s point of view and therefore cried. However, what was due to happen at the right time went on without any grievance and finally took place in a grand manner.

.