Knit one, purl two
Rajeswari and me, waiting for Dayamrita
Dayamrita Swami, back in town, Nov. 19, 2008
Bhajans with Dayamrita
Arati
New year's eve, Dec. 31, 2008. Archana
New year's eve, Dec. 31, 2008 - reading the Lalita Sahasranama
New year's eve, Dec. 31, 2008. Maala singing "We are all beads".
Twins!! My Amma doll is on the left.
Amma's birthday, Sept. 27, 2008. The first Amma's birthday celebration in our new ashram. Note the battery-powered tea lights and electric arati lamps. Amma's prohibition of open flames is still in effect.
Sanjana and Nihita doing the Amma Shop thing
Pranada offering archana (108 names of Amma)
Thankam chanting the 108 names of Amma.
Lalita Sahasranama (1000 names of Divine Mother) archana
Nigama offering archana during singing of Mahishasura Mardini Stotram
Bhajans with Amit, Krishna (on harmonium) and Smita
Nihita cutting the cake
Amma's birthday cake. No candles because of the ban on open flames. 55 candles would have been quite a fire hazard!
Opening prayers before we "officially" enter the ashram for the first time.
Opening prayers, Raman Nair and Than Sookdeo
Our altar girl Than
Raman offering archana during recitation of 108 names of Amma. (not shirt sleeve weather outside or indoors!)
Raman and Viji doing arati.
Welcoming Amma on July 19, 2008
The fence railings decked out for Amma's visit
The next generation of devotees, Anuradha and Uma
Rangoli on the ashram porch
Pranada passes on some secrets of mala making to the next generation
The altar after being blessed by Amma
Rishi getting in some serious face time with Amma!
Amma in an intimate setting, that must have felt like her inaugural 1987 tour. Yeah, it's fuzzy, but it's a bootleg picture!
Ashram altar, awaiting Amma's visit
Rajeswari and Pranada collecting vibhuti
Plaque presented by Ruby Dhalla (Liberal - Brampton-Springdale)
The kitchen altar
Swamiji's pranams
Dayamrita Swami catches up on the baseball scores (the Blue Jays won!)
Ponappa from Ottawa lights the lamp.
Discours bilingue sur les activités du Centre Amma du Québec.
Pranada reading the text of a plaque presented by Ruby Dhalla, an Amma devotee in Canada's Parliament (albeit an obscure Liberal backbencher).
Vote of thanks by Than
Swamiji singing a bhajan
Ambika and Gopi doing arati
Swamiji offers the deepa, before reciting the 108 names of Amma and Lalita Sahasranama (1000 names of the Divine Mother)
Archana
Arati, by the Montreal satsang
Shakti - the barn, being used as a storage space. Calbrett Holsteins is the previous owner.
Karthika - the white house (not THAT White House!)
Compassion - the old homestead
The sign on the side of road
Pranada the mala maker
It's twins! The Devi Bhava Amma belongs to a devotee from Lac St-Jean, Quebec.
Girls night out!
The AFC Ashram is one year old! While the Amma twins watch from the altar, Dayamrita Swami reads the 108 names of Amma at a special combined satsang (Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec, Buffalo, Michigan), May 16, 2009
Bhajans with Dayamrita Swami, May 17, 2009
Enjoying Swamiji's bhajans during one-day retreat, May 17, 2009
Dueling keyboards, Pranada and Padma from Buffalo.
Laying fresh sod around the white house (Barack, Michelle and the kids are welcome to stay here on their next visit to Canada!)
Garden seva
Vic taking the ashram tractor for a ride
Devotees from Quebec laying down new sod.
Laying down fresh sod around the white house.
Sevites in Amma's Victory Garden
Q&A with Swamiji.
Swamiji distributing prasad at the end of a totally awesome retreat to celebrate our first year in Amma's Canadian home.
Bonnie in Amrita Gardens. Not the home of the ashram's hockey team but a booth set up at Amma's 2009 Toronto retreat to sell produce grown at the ashram.
For Amma's retreat in Toronto, the men of the Toronto satsang performed Pulikali (traditional tiger dance of Kerala). Rishi puts a tiger in Amma's tank!
Hear the roar!!
Amma's 56th birthday celebration, Oct. 3, 2009. Bhajans with Dayamrita Swami. Note new paint job on walls.
Amma's birthday celebration, Oct. 3, 2009 (held a week late - Amma's actual birthday is Sept. 27). Arati.
"I've played the arati song so many times I don't need the notes!"
Raman outlining the Amma Foundation of Canada's charitable activities.
Tree planting
Brahmachari Shantamrita, swami-in-chief of Amma's ashram in Japan, visits AFC ashram for satsang on Dec. 4, 2010.
Archana (108 names of Amma) with Swami Shantamrita, Dec. 4, 2010.
Swami Shantamrita leading bhajans.
Rather than deliver a prepared talk, Sw. Shantamrita answered questions from devotees.
Bhajans with the Toronto satsang bhajan-wallahs.
Handing out prasad at end of satsang.
Dayamrita Swami back in town for Amma's birthday celebration at the Amma Canada ashram Oct. 1, 2011. (a few days after Amma's actual birthday on Sept. 27). Sandeep lurking in background providing technical support.
Oct. 1, 2011 - Swami D. telling a World War II story about Lt. Cmdr. Butch O'Hare, who despite running low on fuel singlehandedly shot down a squadron of Japanese planes, but was later killed in action.
