Built up on the very property where Amma was born, Amritapuri is now the headquarters of Ammas worldwide mission and the spiritual home for Ammas monastic disciples and hundreds of householder devotees. All the residents have dedicated their lives for realising God and serving the world. Everyday, Ammas children from across India and abroad flock here to have Ammas darshan. She sees each and every one, listens to their worries, consoles, encourages, provides new direction to their lives.

Amritapuri is the living example of the ancient Indian ideal the whole world is one family (vasudhaiva kutumbakam). Here you will find people from all parts of the world speaking different languages and having different customs and religions all living under one roof. In their quest for the meaning of life, each has forgotten their differences and become a child of Amma.

Children, this ashram exists for the world; it belongs to you, to all the people who come here. Amma

When people come to Amritapuri Ashram for the first time, they are almost always surpriseda remote fishing village on a small island cradled between the backwaters and the Arabian Sea has become the centre of a silent spiritual revolution..

When the deep, spiritual yearning of the disciple basks in the effulgence of the Gurus grace, an ashram is born. There one grows in peace and harmony.

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Amritapuri - Ashram - Amma, Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

The Gandhi Ashram has organised an exhibition of paintings by artist Haku Shah to mark the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The exhibition of paintings by 80-year-old Mr Shah -- titled "Nitya Gandhi: Living Re-living Gandhi" -- explores the various narratives that emerge from the Mahatma's life; political, religious and spiritual.

Known for his folk-themed paintings, Mr Shah is among the nation's renowned artists and is also a recipient of Padma Shri award. The exhibition was inaugurated by K G Subramanyan, an eminent and versatile modern art artist. Mr Shah was an early student of the Faculty of Fine Arts at the MS University, Vadodara, where N S Bendre and K G Subramanyan were among his teachers.

"His concern for the tribal and folk art had a more human quality; the artisan or the craftsman as a human being was his focus and the art was its by-product. There you can see the Gandhi in him, in the concern for the lowest person," says artist Amit Ambalal.

In Mr Shah's canvases, the images of Gandhi making salt or spinning yarn, with their vigour and abandon, surprise art historian S Kalidas. Curator Amrit Gangar celebrates the return of the colour white which underlines the austerity of the painter and his subject while the depiction of Bapu without a deh or body reminds writer Tridip Surhud of the impermanence of all form.

The paintings are replete with plain symbolism of still life objects that bring alive Gandhi's working of the mind.

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Art Matters: The Gandhian's Gandhi

Sagar Kulkarni , Oct 12, 2014, DHNS:

Prime Minister Narendra Modis stress on cleanliness has struck a chord with the residents of the ashram established by Mahatma Gandhi in this village about eight kilometres from Wardha. The residents went a step further to caution that the Swachha Bharat campaign should not be confined to a few days. Modi has picked up one of Gandhiji's many messages. The cleanliness campaign should not be a one-off affair. It should be part of daily life, octogenarian Kusumtai Pande, who has been a resident of the Ashram since 1945, told Deccan Herald.

Modi has taken the cleanliness drive to election campaigns. He has been exhorting the audience at his massive rallies across Maharashtra to maintain cleanliness at the venue and dispose of waste paper, empty water and bottles in garbage bins.

There are about 12 residents in the Ashram and each is assigned a specific task to keep the sprawling campus clean. Pande cleans the Bapu Kuti, which was home to Gandhi.

Modi had also appealed to the schools to carry out cleanliness drive for six days from the birth anniversaries of late Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru (November 14) to that of Indira Gandhi (November 19), in what was seen as a bid to poach on Congress icons.

Modi had visited Bapu Kuti and paid tribute to the Mahatma.

He wrote in Gujarati that Gandhi was not just a human being but a thought.

Sevagram Ashram was founded by Mahatma Gandhi in 1936 after he left Sabarmati on conclusion of his salt satyagraha. This was his home in his last years. Gandhi left Sevagram in 1946 for a tour of the country which took him to places such as Naokhali, now in Bangladesh, and later to Delhi, where he was killed.

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Modi's drive strikes chord with Gandhi ashram

Jaipur, Oct 10, 2014, DHNS:

Kailash Satyarthi, the child rights activist and the Nobel Peace Prize winner of 2014 has strong connections with Rajasthan.

His movement for child rights and efforts to reintegrate and rehabilitate them into mainstream society has given fresh lease of life to unprecedented number of children in the state.

His constant efforts to fight against social evils like child marriage and illiteracy has changed the face of several villages and hamlets in Jaipur and Alwar districts of Rajasthan.

Satyarthi started a Bal Ashram in Virat Nagar tehsil of Jaipur district in 1980. Since then, Bal Ashram has rehabilitated over 3,000 rescued kids into mainstream society, said Nitin Singh working with Satyarthi in Virat Nagar tehsil, 80 kms from Jaipur city.

Presently, his wife Sumedha Satyarthi is looking after all the affairs of Bal Ashram, added Nitin.

Singh said that the child labourers rescued from various states of northern India, including Rajasthan, are brought to Bal Ashram and groomed keeping in mind all their requirements.

The Ashram comprises of all modern facilities including school, child counselors, residential hostels and other facilities.

Several students from Bal Ashram have excelled in various fields and created an identity for themselves.

Under the guidance of this Ashram many students have created their individual identity in various fields. Presently, one of our students is pursuing engineering, while two are pursuing higher studies in law, said Nitin.

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Bal Ashram is Rajasthan's connect with Nobel winner