Mata Amritanandamayi Math led by Amma, Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, adopted 100 villages across India in 2013 with the intention of developing them sustainably. When the volunteers from Math reached the villages, they noticed that some of the social, economic problems were related to the lack of access to clean menstrual products. Many children dropped out of school and were using unhygienic products during their periods.

Amma asked the team to provide the children and women with free menstrual pads. However, it was not just any pads that Amma wanted to distribute but reusable pads. Further, Amma said to research on banana fibre and use it as the absorbent material in the pads. Banana fibre is a type of cellulose that can absorb liquids. In general, for making disposable pads, trees are cut in large numbers to get cellulose, the core absorbent material in these pads. However, we don’t cut any banana tree for making our pads. It is an interesting fact that banana trees bloom only once in their lifetime. After which the farmers cut them. It is this agricultural waste that Amma wanted the team to use for making the reusable pads. Also, India is one of the largest producers of banana trees.

After research and many modifications, the first reusable cloth pads made with banana fiber in the world was born. During this time, Amma guided the research team on even minor aspects of designing the pad. She envisioned to produce the best quality pads with no chemicals using the most cost-effective production process. As per this vision, the pads have been made chemical free and don’t cause any harm to body like the disposable pads.