Amma Sri Karunamayi, who is revered by tens of thousands of followers as the embodiment of “Divine Motherly Love”, is currently on tour in North America, her 23rd visit to the United States. Amma’s tour started on March 17, in Arizona, and will end on July 10, in San Francisco, California.
Each year she travels around this country giving free public programs and according to her organization, millions of Americans have come to Amma Sri Karunamayi to share their pain. She is also the founder of SMVA Trust, a global non-profit in association with the United Nations’ DPI, established in 1988, dedicated to humanitarian service projects, and to upholding Sanathana Dharma (Vedic Culture) by interweaving tradition and charitable service.
Amma is also the founder and spiritual head of Manidweepa Maha Samsthanam, an ashram which includes the Sri Lalita Parameshwari Devi Tri-Shakti Peetham. Born in 1958, Sri Karunamayi left the comfort and security of her parents’ home in 1980, and lived in relative isolation for ten years in the Penusila Forest of the Nellore District, Andhra Pradesh.
She then began her mission of providing relief to the suffering and underprivileged, particularly the hundreds of thousands of villagers living in the regions surrounding the Penusila Forest. She inaugurated the Sri Karunamayi Free Schools in 1994, where today, more than 650 students are enrolled for a rounded education that includes math, science, social studies, the arts, learning to read and write English, Hindi, Telugu (their native tongue)—all free of cost.
In 2010, she resolved to provide clean, potable water and to date, under Amma’s direction, SMVA Trust has opened 31 Water Treatment Plants across two states in India. In 2008, to commemorate her 50th Birthday, Amma initiated the Jubilee Free Housing Project— which to date, has handed over durable homes to hundreds of families in need.
She has opened a 100-bed free hospital to provide quality health care for a community of over 5,00,000 impoverished villagers, free of charge. A mobile medical van also travels to rural areas to provide care to patients too sick to walk or travel. Amma is also active in numerous charitable activities across the globe.
