WHEN a crisis hits, the soul searching begins. And in Singapore, some members of the Indian community are searching for a spiritual balm to soothe their worries about the economic downturn.

During the past week, large numbers of Indians flocked to meet India's "Hugging Saint" Mata Amritanandamayi Devi. Another event saw many signing up for meditation and yoga courses.

And from April 4, Swami Mukundananda, a guru from India who visits Singapore frequently, is holding a six-day talk and he says he expects more people to attend this time round.

Last year, when Amma (as Mata Amritanandamayi Devi is called by her devotees) visited Singapore, around 35,000 people went to get hugs and hear her talk. This year, close to 50,000 people of all races turned up at the Suntec Convention Centre for the three-day event from March 28 to 30.

Said Mr Sagar Dharan, the vice-president of the local Amriteswari Society which organised the events: "You can't deny the fact that people are down and depressed during this time and they want some comfort. Having said that, all of us crave love whether we have a job or not."

MrL. Maruthu, who works in a landscape company, was there to find some solace in Mata Amritanandamayi's hug. "My company is not doing well and I am worried about my job. After Amma's hug I feel calmer about facing my worries," he said.

Ms Jasmeet Kalra, who works with an international airline and is feeling the heat of the economic downturn, got her first hug from Amma. And said it made her feel better, albeit for a little while. "It felt very warm getting a hug from her," she said.

Her boyfriend Sunil Nambiar, 29, had been hugged by Amma 12 years ago. This time, after he got his hug, he described it as "fulfilling".

The other spiritual event last week was organised by the Isha Foundation, which is led by the Coimbatore-based Sadguru Jaggi.

The foundation offers meditation and yoga workshops and it was represented over the week by former Lebanese hospital manager Marie Christine Jabr, who gave up her job to represent the guru and travel around the world teaching yoga asanas and meditation techniques.

The group charges $350 per person for a seven-day course which is said to have the ability to ease physical afflictions like migraine and back pain.

"I noticed in Singapore that there are more men than women signing up for the courses. More people are realising that when everything collapses, that's when they start thinking about their lives," said Ms Jabr.

Another event which people worried about the economic crisis are looking forward to starts on April 4. The Radha Madhav Satsang is organising free talks in English dealing with stress, fear and anxiety.

Swami Mukundananda, one of the group's India-based gurus who visits Singapore often to teach a form of yoga called Jagadguru Kripalu Yog, will be holding talks from April 4 to 9 at the Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple.

Swami Mukundananda told tabla! that he has noticed an increase in the number of people attending his talks and workshops outside India. While he could not give exact numbers, he said it was not unusual in a time of crisis.