Kanye West tweets about Mata Amritanandamayi’s 32 million hugs

American rapper Kanye West on Monday tweeted about Mata Amritanandamayi, the hugging saint.

Rapper Kanye West continues to provoke reactions with his return to Twitter. The 40-year-old, who re-activated his account last month after a hiatus of one year, has tweeted on wide-ranging themes, often courting controversy, specifically for his pro-Donald Trump messages.

Known among her followers as "Amma," which means "mother" in several Indian languages, Amritanandamayi has devotees in India and the rest of the world. She is also popularly known as the Hugging Saint. (AP)

West, on Monday, tweeted about how everyone needs hugs sometimes. He then went on to share a picture of spiritual guru Mata Amritanandamayi, writing, “Amma Mata had given over 32 million hugs.”

West’s tweet has been ‘liked’ 20,000 times and has been retweeted 3,000 times. The responses to Kanye’s tweet include the history of Amma - a Hindu spiritual leader who is commonly known as the ‘hugging saint’.

Earlier this month, West sparked outrage over social media after he said that the enslavement of African Americans over centuries may have been “a choice”. His tweets in support of US President Donald Trump were also slammed by black commentators.

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