Actress and dancer Lakshmi Gopalaswamy performs at the birthday celebrations of Amritanandamayi.
By Ashraf Padanna/Thiruvananthapuram
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy yesterday inaugurated a solar electrification project for a remote village in the state’s hilly district of Wayanad which is expected to improve the lives of several families, mostly tribal.
He launched the Amrita Sphuranam, a project initiated by Mata Amritanandamayi Math (MAM) of Hindu spiritual leader Amritanandamayi, at her headquarters in Kollam district.
The MAM soft-launched the project in partnership with the Live-in-Labs (LiLa]) programme of the Amrita Centre for Wireless Networks and Applications (AmritaWNA) at Amrita School of Engineering.
“The project has helped electrify the village of Mothakkara,” the Math said in a statement. “The goal is to improve the lives of the village’s socially, economically and educationally disadvantaged population consisting of around 260 people in 40 families. The solar energy system provides each household 130 watts of power for six hours every day.”
The chief minister also greeted Amritanandamayi on her 61st birthday being celebrated this week.
In the second phase, the MAM will start a cottage industry for the tribal population drawing on this renewable source of energy.
The statement quoted the chief minister as describing Amritanandamayi as an epitome of virtue and love.
He also presented the Math’s Amrita Keerthi Puraskar, consisting of a cash prize of Rs123,456 to devotional poet S Rameshan Nair.
Earlier in the day, actress and dancer Lakshmi Gopalaswamy mesmerised the audience with her Bharatanatyam performance.