-- From Kovalam to Amritapuri
the road tracklog
from Kovalam to Amritapuri
from 20/02/2007 to 25/02/2007
The 20/02 after two hours of road of which a stop in Trivandrum I arrived at the Helipad of Varkala Beach where I established my bivouac. The beach is at the foot of an ochre cliff on the peak of which restaurants and shops are aligned. The site is dramatic. Alas the behaviour of restorers and tradesmen pollutes the site.
Varkala Beach
le 20/02/2007
Pollution du site
Varkala Beach
le 20/02/2007
The 21/02 I begun again my progression in Kerala on the Malabar Coast. I stopped in Kollam to see the Our Lady Velamkanni Church. It was built after the independence of India in the exuberant style of the Hindu temples.
Our lady of Velamkanni
Kollam
the 21/02/2007
From the 21 to the 25/02, I remained in the Amma's ashram at Amritapuri.
Embracing the World for Peace and Harmony.
I had decided to make an experiment to stay in an ashram. A few kilometres from
Karunagappaly the ashram of Sri Amritanandamayi Devi, known under the name of
Amma, the Mother in malayalam. Located at the edge of the Arabian Sea it is
composed of several buildings to lodge the 3,000 residents, devotes and
visitors. The complete pension is 150 INR per day in common room including the
Indian meals. On my arrival, a room, already occupied by a German devote, was
affected to me and I received a ticket for the darshan, the blessing of Amma.
I made the queue during approximately three fifteen minutes to find me at knee
in front of Amma who took to me in her arms to make me a cuddly by murmuring
me incomprehensible words and by giving me a candy. I saw people, Indians and
Westerners, to cry. Personally, I did not feel anything. During her journeys
in the world, she has embraced more than 24 million people of all religions.
Amma wants to transmit a message of love and compassion. She asks neither to
believe in God nor to change religion, she asks us to know our nature and to
have faith in ourself. The message arises more of the treaty of knowing to
live than teaching of a guru. Amma is without any doubt a charismatic person.
She manages a NGO multinational company that drains million dollars per annum.
At the time of the darshan I noticed a group of people around her who dedicate
a true worship to her. The evening after the devotional songs, a ceremony
proceeds in front of her effigy that points out that of in temples dedicated
to Krishna. I think that a religion was built on her behalf. It returns to me
in memory a definition of the religion: A group of people meets to follow the
teaching of a charismatic person by developing rites and symbols during
ceremonies that are dedicated to him. An Amma Center exists in France close to
Chartres.
At my inscription, I filled a form declaring that I did not have a psychosis. A
booklet was given me specifying the code of conduct in the ashram: camera,
video camera and telephone mobile are prohibited as well as alcohol, tobacco and drug.
Clothes must be correct, no shorts. In fact, the behaviour of the male devotee is the white
pyjamas and that of the woman is the
white dress. While arriving I believed myself in a psychiatric hospital! “Drôles,
... drôles de têtes que ces gens la” I had wished this experiment
to try to understand the motivations of the Westerners to come in an ashram to
follow the teaching of a religion contrary to our culture. Was the meeting
that I had with the German devotee representative? The answer remains open.
The population of the ashram is very mainly Indian, the other people are
Westerners. I had the occasion to speak with a forty-year-old German converted
to Buddhism spending three weeks with his girl friend. I understood that it
had existential personal and relational with his Christian girl friend
problems.
During my stay, I took part in certain devotional activities. I did not have any
receptivity. The ceremonies dedicated to Amma were sung and accompanied by the
Vedic instruments with a deafening sound rendering me the listening painful;
few Westerners took part in it. On the other hand, I went every evening to
attend the dramatic sunset in Arabian Sea.
