ALAPPUZHA: Renowned American rapper Kanye West is the latest celebrity to join the millions of fans of Mata Amritanandamayi. He surprised the Twitter world on Tuesday by posting a photo of Amma accompanied by a caption, 'Amma Mata had given more than 32 million hugs.' His earlier tweet read, 'sometimes we all need hugs.' Within hours, his tweet went viral securing 3,100 comments, 1,02,000 re-tweets and 2,46,000 likes. West, who is also husband of Hollywood heartthrob Kim Kardashian, was not on Twitter for a year due to mental breakdown. Earlier this month, West had courted a controversy on the microblogging site when he called slavery "a choice."
In an interview with entertainment site TMZ, he said: "When you hear about slavery for 400 years that sounds like a choice. You were there for 400 years and it's all of you 'all. It's like we're mentally in prison. I like the word prison because slavery goes too direct to the idea of blacks. Slavery is to blacks as the Holocaust is to Jews. Prison is something that unites as one race the blacks and whites." He had also invited criticism for backing American President Donald Trump.
Tweet by Mr West.
However, his praise for Amritanandamayi has been well-received. A communication official with Amritanandamayi Ashram, Vallikkavu, said that he had quoted her as she was very popular in the USA. "We are happy. We will try to get in touch with West's management. If he agrees, we will explore the possibilities of a 'darshan' of Amma," he said.
Mata, also known as the 'Hugging Saint,' travels to different countries every year to spread spirituality offering insights on global issues and guiding people towards the right path. In Africa, Mata has ashrams in Kenya, Mauritius and Reunion Island. In the US, her ashrams are located in California, Iowa, Michigan, New Mexico, Arkansas and Washington DC. Earlier also, American rappers had become the admirers of Mata. Doug E. Fresh, one of the first stars of hip-hop in the US, had performed during the 59th birthday celebrations of Amritanandamayi at Amritapuri on September 26, 2012.
