Within the devotional world that has formed around Amma (Mata Amritanandamayi), she is primarily regarded as a guru, a realized spiritual master who guides aspirants through teaching, example, and direct personal contact. Her role is that of a satguru, one who is understood to have attained self-realization and who therefore can illuminate the path for others. This is expressed not only through formal instruction but also through her characteristic mode of darśan, the embrace that has become emblematic of her presence. In this sense, her identity is framed within the traditional Hindu understanding of the guru as the living conduit of spiritual wisdom.

At the same time, the devotional attitude of many followers toward Amma goes beyond the notion of a teacher in a merely human sense. She is often revered as an embodiment of divine love and compassion, closely associated with the Divine Mother principle. For many, this leads to forms of worship that resemble the liturgical honor given to deities: pūjā, ārati, mantras, and prayers offered at her feet. Such practices arise from the long-standing Hindu view that an enlightened guru can be approached as a direct manifestation of the divine, so that honoring the guru becomes indistinguishable, in feeling and ritual, from honoring God.

From this perspective, the apparent tension between “guru” and “deity” softens into a more nuanced understanding: Amma is formally approached as a spiritual teacher, yet devotionally many see her as a living embodiment of the Divine Mother. Theologically, she functions as a realized master who is worshipped with the same reverence that one might offer to a deity, without requiring a rigid doctrinal distinction. Her own emphasis consistently falls on God, love, service, and inner transformation, rather than on asserting a particular status for herself. Thus, the categories of guru and deity, while distinct in theory, converge in lived practice around her, as devotees experience the guru as the visible face of the invisible divine.