Jingle Bells; Jingle Bells
December 25, 2010
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). - Mathew 1:23
It is the part of the year when, almost, every corner of the world is lit with the lights of joy and love celebrating the arrival of baby Jesus on to the earth.
DC ashram joined in the celebrations and the sense of the holiday season could be felt right from the beginning of month. Few of Amma’s children got together organizing a bake sale for the holiday season. Iced cookies, cakes, brownies were all up for sale, baked at the ashram kitchen and beautifully gift wrapped. The proceeds of the sale were dedicated to Amma’s charity mission.
DC ashram was all lit up outside and the prayer hall had an addition of a resplendent Christmas tree.
It was beautifully decorated with beautiful ornaments.
The celebrations began on the 24th of December. What would have been a better way to begin the
celebrations than watching live the Christmas celebrations at Amritapuri with Amma, through a webcast?
A very meaningful play orchestrated by Amma’s western children in Amritapuri, Amma’s
Christmas message, all energetic and melodious bhajans that Amma sang and Amma’s interaction with
her children on the webcast were the highlights. Amma e-fed us with the Christmas cake.
Christmas was celebrated on December 26th. It began with the chanting of 108 names of Amma, a brief
description about the celebrations at Amritapuri and the explanation of the gist of Amma’s message
by Br. Ramanand, bhajans etc. Everyone, then, joined in the melodious Christmas carols led by a few of
the singers. The memorable moments were the scene of Nativity enacted by the tiny tots of Amrita Balakendra.
It was followed by arati and a sumptuous Christmas lunch.