16 feet idol of Sripada Vallabha
Mataji Vallabhanandamayi’s life has been full of divine mysteries. From her childhood, whenever she seeked spiritual knowledge Lord Sripada Vallabha ensured that the lessons and learnings found her through the right people, at the right time.
When she was mentally pursuing the thought of learning Srividya Upasana, Lord Sreepada Sreevallabha arranged for a learned person to impart Srividya Upasana to Mata. The Guru who initiated the Upasana was an ardent Datta devotee by the name Shri Datta Gopalakrishna ji, his family deity (kula deivam) was also Lord Dattatreya Himself.
Usually the disciple goes in search of his/her guru, but Mata Vallabhanandamayi’s Guru came looking for her. The initiation into Srividya Upasana coincided exactly with the date of consecration of Lord Sreepada’s Sacred Padukas.
Similarly, Mataji Vallabhanandamayi was quite keen on learning Kriya Yoga, but had no clue who to approach for initiation. On a Guru Poornima day, Lord Sreepada Sreevallabha appeared in her dream and said, “I will teach you Kriya Yoga. I will give you 12 points for learning.” Mata Vallabhanandamayi awoke from her sleep and tried to recall the 12 points.
As she struggled to recollect, she heard a voice that asked her to start writing whatever she was hearing. When she stopped writing, exactly 12 points were listed as dictated by Lord Sreepada Sreevallabha Himself. They were the steps for Kriya yoga initiation.
This initiation was reconfirmed by Lord Sreepada when she visited Kedarnath and Badrinath in 2022. At Anandamayi’s Ashram in Haridwar, she was guided to initiate a French national named Quinton. While the initiation was underway, on one side of Mata Vallabhanandamayi sun rays were falling and at the same time it began raining. With the grace of Lord Sreepada Sreevallabha, Mata Vallabhanandamayi again received the divine initiation of Kriya Yoga and Sri Vidya Upasana.
