Anandamayi Ma or Ma Anandamayi was a saintly person born to Bengali parents on April 30th, 1896 in a small village named Kheora in Tripura (which is now located in Bangladesh). Her full name is Nirmala Sundari and she was married to Ramani Mohan Chakrabarti.
Anandamayi Ma manifested her miraculous powers right from a very young age. She also fell into trance occasionally. At the young age of 12 years she was married off to a man named Bholanath who worked in the police department. This Bengali saint experienced a very difficult life, right from the time of marriage however she maintained her great coolness and composure during her stressful life.
It was during this time that Anandamayi Ma became an intense devotee of the Hindu deity, Lord Krishna. Her inner transformation was gradual and slowly at the age of twenty six, she attained self-realization. Ma Anandamayi’s popularity started growing as time went by. People wanting to seek her blessings, began visiting her from far and wide.
Ma Anandamayi’s life was very eventful. During her lifetime she met various influential people namely Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Not only did they develop special liking towards her but she was also given fatherly treatment from many. Ma Anandamayi left for the heavenly abode in August 27th 1982 in Dehradun. On August 29th 1982 a Samadhi Shrine was subsequently constructed in the courtyard of her Kankhal Ashram located in Haridwar in North India.
Anandamayi’s conversational speed was too great for her transcribers. Very often they found it difficult to transcribe her informal talks. Anandamayi Ma never wrote down, did not prepare discourses or revise whatever she had to say. Attempts were made by Brahmachari Kamal Bhattacharjee, her devotee and Gurupriya Devi her personal attendant to transcribe her speeches.
