Mata Amritanandamayi's 73rd Birthday Marked as Vishwa Seva Dinam

Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah was the chief guest at the 73rd birthday celebrations of Mata Amritanandamayi, known to her followers as Amma, at Kollam in Keralam on 26 September 2026. The day her birthday falls on is kept by her followers as Vishwa Seva Dinam, a day of service. Shri Shah said the birthday of a person who has made the wiping of another's tears her discipline and her duty for five decades ought itself to be marked through service.

Who Mata Amritanandamayi is

She was born on 27 September 1953 at Parayakadavu, a poor village in Kollam district. The Home Minister divided her life into three strands, Bhav or devotion, Karma or action and Karuna or compassion, and said an inborn compassion is what defines her. Her embrace, he added, has taught millions of people around the world that they are not alone in their grief. Very few, he said, give an entire lifetime to selfless service, and fewer still are able to turn that instinct into an institution and then into a worldwide movement.

Relief work and institutions

The Minister first saw her compassion at work after the Gujarat earthquake of 2001, when she put up 1,200 houses and settled a whole village, giving it a town hall, a place of learning and a hospital. That settlement is known today as Amma's Village. Her followers worked again during the tsunami, the Uttarakhand disaster, the Wayanad landslide and the COVID-19 crisis.

Reach and global platforms

There are 86 Amrita Vidyalayas across the country. Over a million trees have been planted through her initiatives, alongside work in health, education and livelihoods, and 101 villages have been made completely self-reliant. She has carried her message of service to the United Nations Millennium World Peace Summit and to the Vishwa Dharma Sansad, the Parliament of the World's Religions. When India held the G-20 presidency she presided over Civil-20, the grouping that brings civil society into the G-20 process.

Shri Shah said that for Amma the day of service never ends, because her work runs through all 365 days of the year. He recalled meeting her on 27 September 2015, on 3 April 2016 and on 4 June 2023, and called her blessing on Vishwa Seva Dinam a great moment of his life. He added that she has blessed the Prime Minister's resolve for a drug-free India, and that the nation will reach that goal.