Chicago, USA - Some came just for a hug, some some for more spiritual reasons.
They came to see Amma, known as the "hugging saint," a humanitarian from India who travels the world offering hugs to those who flock to see her.
Amma, 52, whose nickname means mother and whose birth name is Mata Amritanandamayi, was at the Oak Brook Hills Marriott Resort on Wednesday and Thursday, attracting more than 9,000 people. Some came to sit, others came to experience darshan--a spiritual vision of sorts--with Amma.
Amma handed out tender, motherly embraces hour after hour. Everyone who participated was given a prasad--a gift that has been blessed. Sometimes Amma offered a Hershey's Kiss, sometimes an apple, sometimes both.
Amma grew up poor, the daughter of a fisherman in the state of Kerala in southern India. Educated only until the 4th grade, she started her spiritual movement at 21 and has since touched people in countries all over the world.
Amma travels the globe and makes an annual trek to the Chicago area. Sarah Cura and Scott Keever of Minneapolis, Minn., traveled six hours to see her for the first time on Wednesday.
"I had heard about her for 10 years and saw this event in a yoga journal. I thought, wow, what perfect timing. I know that she gives hugs," Cura said.
Dawn Silver from Chicago has been coming to see Amma for 19 years. Silver describes Amma's following as "a nomadic tribe of love bugs."
"This is the best energy in the universe," Silver said.
Silver said one year her 15-year-old daughter wondered why Amma always seem to recognize her. "I said to her, `Of course she recognizes you, she sees you every year and hugs you.'"
Silver said Amma's following, which does not ask for donations, is not a cult.
"She simply blesses people. If someone wants to really love you, why not?" Silver said.
Amma and her organization, Mata Amritanandamayi Math (M.A. Math), , has built a hospital in India and thousands of houses for the poor. The organization, headquartered in Amma's home state of Kerala, has given more than $23 million for the Amrita Tsunami Relief and Rehabilitation Project, covering a broad range of relief efforts in India and Sri Lanka.
"Many of the people that lived in the villages near us lost their homes," said Janani, Amma's personal videographer and archivist. "Most of them were one-story homes and many people [after the tsunamis] were afraid to sleep on the first floor. Amma insisted on rebuilding two-story homes so the people could sleep on the second floor and not have to worry about this happening to them again."
Janani, who has worked for Amma for 14 years, is a former religious professor from Denver who gave up her tenure to live with Amma.
"I was raised Christian. With Amma, I feel I am more deeply Christian than ever before," Janani said. "We may look like a cult but we are pretty normal people."