Amma, the “hugging saint,” is no stranger to New York. When Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi first visited this city in 1987, around 40 people came to see her in a small rented room. This weekend ...

Amma — full name Mata Amritanandamayi, age 56 — is known as “the Hugging Saint.” In Los Angeles this week, thousands of devotees have billowed through a windowless conference room at the ...

The India native, known as Amma, or Mother, has hugged more than 30 million people worldwide as a blessing. On Wednesday and Thursday, as part of a national tour, the so-called Hugging Saint was ...

Known to her devotees as Amma, an honorific nickname meaning “Mother,” she is most famously referred to as the “hugging saint” because of her trademark blessing: a big, rapturous hug that ...

“Mother,” he said as he pointed, “and son.” The anticipation leading up to Amma’s hug was palpable. In line, I spoke to a multigenerational family with a 1-year-old baby. Rekha ...

PBS NewsHour political editor Christina Bellantoni’s program and “hugging token” for her visit to a revered guru known as the “hugging saint.” Amma, a 60-year-old South Indian woman who ...

After the couple waited for at least five hours, Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, the renowned Indian hugging saint known simply as Amma, wrapped them in her arms and murmured in their ears.

We sent our least touchy-feely journalist to visit “The Hugging Saint”. When Amma comes to town, people line up—and wait four hours—for one of her free hugs. The 63 year old, whose name is Mata ...

The maternal spiritual guide has embraced an estimated 40 million people since she was a teenager in Kerala, at times hugging lines of people for 22 hours straight. Her network of charities ...