The inner circle

The first set of monastic disciples of Amritanandamayi were from Harippad, a town not very far from Vallikkavu, in the late 80s. They suffered taunts and threats from sceptics, gave up their education and worldly assets and stayed near her house. Today, they as well as some others of that era are senior swamis, looking after the ashram's multifarious activities.

The most important disciple, now known as valiya (big) swami in ashram circles, is Swami Amritaswaroopananda. He was the first to be initiated as a sanyasi.The once curious BA student from Harippad called Balagopal is now like a confident COO, coordinating the ashram's activities within and outside the country. Handsome and knowledgeable, he is the visible face of the marketing machinery of the ashram that people speak highly of.

Ramakrishnananda, who regularly accompanies Amma during her world tours, belonged to an orthodox Brahmin family and was a bank employee in Harippad. He went to Amma in the hope that her blessings would help him get a transfer to Palakkad. Instead, he got transported into the world of renunciation.

He wanted to join her immediately but she told him to wait till his sister's marriage. After three years, he resigned his job and joined the ashram, against the wishes of his parents. His father was able to reconcile to the fact that his son wanted to be a sanyasi but not to the fact that he would be sishya to a Dalit woman. Over the years, his parents became frequent visitors to the ashram and even settled down there.

Amritatmananda, yet another swami, from a well-known family of businessmen in Harippad, is part of Amma's core bhajan group and accompanies her during her world tours. He first went to meet Amma out of sheer curiosity. When the non-believer joined an ashram led by a low-caste woman, his parents were shocked and even lodged a complaint with the police. But he was determined. "Amma touches people in so many ways, especially the young," he says. He describes how he came across a 25-year-old drug addict in Switzerland. "He had lost his parents in an accident, took to drugs and was contemplating suicide. After seeing a poster, he came to a session and Amma told him, 'You have Mother, don't worry'. He became her follower and found a new meaning in life. He is coming to Kochi for her birthday," he says.

One incident that touched most of the earliest inmates involved a leprosy patient called Dattan who was so gruesome that he covered himself with a cloth. They say Amma hugged him and licked his sores. In time, they claim, he became free of the disease. But the ashram faced a problem when more lepers came for blessings and other devotees felt uncomfortable. "Then she agreed to send bhasmam (sacred ash) to them," says Ramakrishnananda.

Swami Paramatmananda or Neil Rosner was the first foreigner to join the ashram. He was with Ramana Maharishi's ashram in Thiruvilvamalai and visited Vallikkavu. Amma later sent him to America to look after one of her centres. He is now back in Vallikkavu.

One of Amma's prominent foreign disciples is Ron Gotsegen who is the administrative director of AIMS. After meeting Amma, he sold his highly successful electronic equipment business-Radionics was a market leader-and helped set up an ashram in San Rimon, which now functions as the ashram's US headquarters.