Mother Mangalam was born in Singapore in 1926. A teacher by profession, her lifelong ambition was to become a social worker among destitute children and to teach among the poor and the destitute. Her religious life, influenced by Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity, has transformed her into practising spiritual values amid a multi-religious setting with equal respect for all religious schools of thought.
From 1952 - 1960 Mother Mangalam was involved in the day to day activities of the Home for orphans and homeless children run by the Pure Life Society while serving as a full-fledged teacher.
While in the teaching profession and later as head of a national school, she assisted in the foundation for the Pure Life Society and its charities. In 1961, she became the Life President of the Society following the demise of the Founder-President of the Society, H.H. Swami Satyananda PhD. J.P. Swamjii had been her inspiration and mentor throughout her life since the age of 11.
In addition to educational and welfare activities, Mother Mangalam served for ten years as Vice-President in the Malaysia Inter-Religious Orgaization (MRO) formerly as the Council for Inter-faith Co-operation. While serving as Vice-President of the MRO she was responsible in organizing multi-religious youth camps for three consecutive years. Since 1986, Mother Mangalam is Advisor to the Inter-faith Spiritual Fellowship (INSaF).
As life member and member of the advisory board of a range of welfare and religioous organizations, she has participated in conferences, seminars and workshops pertaining to welfare, social issues, world religions, peace missions and education.