On her way to the Coimbatore ashram for a 2-day Brahmasthanam program, Amma stopped for a few hours at the institution campus located less than an hour away. Many of the people from the institution were actually at the ashram at the time, helping make final preparations for Amma’s visit and thus missed this chance to see their Chancellor on campus. Amma spent the time with the tour group of hundreds, giving satsang and practicing new bhajans.
Amma is currently on a three-week tour of seven cities in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. On these Indian tours, Amma travels by road and several busloads of people — both ashram residents and visitors from abroad — travel with her. The entourage goes from city to city where several thousands come to seek Amma’s blessings. Our Chancellor Amma is a spiritual leader revered by people from all around the world. Coimbatore was the second stop of this South Indian tour.
Upon arriving at the campus, the caravan of buses and cars drove to the site of the Olympic-size swimming pool. Amma sat by the pool-side surrounded by those on tour with her. She asked them to share their experiences and then practiced new bhajans in Tamil, the local language, that would be sung at the programs the following two days. When traveling from one city to the next, Amma often stops at picturesque spots along the way, in order to spend time with the tour group.
Our Coimbatore campus has been extolled as one of India’s most picturesque college campuses.* About fifteen years ago, this was barren land. When the School of Engineering was started in 1994, a massive effort was also undertaken to ‘green’ the entire place. Today the beautiful campus is full of trees and flowering plants. Whats more, the green cover has extended to the nearby hills also, and has brought down the average temperature of the region. Wouldn’t this be a model example of how the problem of global warming could perhaps be tackled?
Amma referred to the cool climate and asked if people felt cold. The Westerners replied that they came from places much colder, so this didn’t feel that cold to them. Amma asked if they knew how to swim, adding that in her childhood days, small children would all learn swimming. Amma reminisced about the old times. With the sun setting behind the Western Ghats, Amma started practicing bhajans. Finally, few hours later, it was time to leave. A short drive to reach the Coimbatore ashram, followed by two full days of programs there.
January 22, 2009
Coimbatore Campus
See also photos on amritapuri.org
Read about Amma’s visit to Coimbatore Campus in 2007
