Sri Aurobindo Ashram

History

Founded in 1926, the Sri Aurobindo Ashram has grown, under the Mother's guidance, from a small group of two dozen disciples into a large diversified community with almost 1200 members. Counting the 400 students of the Centre of Education and the hundreds of devotees who live nearby, the larger ashram community consists of more than 2000 people.

Situated in a busy city of over 700,000 people, the Ashram is not a quiet place of retreat but a vibrant centre of life in a modern urban setting. The dynamic character of the community reflects the life-affirming aim of Sri Aurobindo's Yoga. Work as an offering to the Divine is an essential aspect of the Yoga, and all Ashramites do a certain amount of productive work each day in one or another of the Ashram's departments.

The Ashram is located in the eastern part of Pondicherry. Ashramites live and work in a large number of buildings spread throughout the area. The focus of community life is the Ashram main building, usually called simply "the Ashram", which consists of an interconnected block of houses, including those in which Sri Aurobindo and the Mother lived for most of their lives. At its centre, in a tree-shaded courtyard, lies the Samadhi, a white-marble shrine where their bodies are laid to rest.




Attractions

Visitors are attracted to Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry of its spiritual charm to pay homepage to the samadhi's(cenetophs )of aurobindo,and the mother situated in the midst of a garden of colorful flowers of every hue and scent.Aurobindo Ashram is spiritually uplifting with all silence , reverence , floral inner-quiet guide and charm. Here yoga and meditation is a way of life.You can look within and listen to your heart and the chriping birds.

Opening Times:

Aurobindo Ashram is open to the public daily between 08:00 - 12:00 hrs and 14:00 - 18:00 hrs

Departments in Aurobindo Ashram:
Bureau central, Autocare services, Ashram library, Art gallery, Publication department, sabdha, Batik section, Mother’s embroidery department, Hablik handweaving, Fleurs En Flacon, Cottage industries, Auroshika agrbhathies, Auyurvedic section, Hand made paper factory.

Bureau central:
It guides visitors find accommodation in the Ashram guest houses.It provides Information regarding the Ashram and its activities

Address: 3 Rangapillai Street, Pondicherry - 605001
Phone: 413-2339648
Email: bureaucentral@mailroom.com
Timings: 6 am to 8 pm (daily)

Ashram Library:
Set in a large, old French-style building with its big halls, its quiet corners, and its own little garden in front, and with 55,000 books in 25 different languages and hundreds of periodicals, the library is very much an intellectual sanctuary. The library also has a large collection of Indian and Western classical records and tapes.

• Indian classical music is played at the Library every Wednesday from 8.30 p.m. to 9.30 pm
• Western classical music every Tuesday and Friday at the same time.

Timings: 7.30 am - 11.30 am, 2.00 pm - 4.45 pm

Art Gallery:
The art gallery undertakes the preservation and the exhibition of the Mother's collection of paintings and photographs. This collection consists of more than 2500 paintings done by Ashram artists and others. It is a selection from this collection that is usually on exhibit at the gallery.

Address: Rue Law de Lauriston, Pondicherry - 605001
Timings: 9.00 am - 11.00 am, 3.00 pm - 4.00 pm

How to do Meditation In Aurobindo Ashram:

1. Find a quiet place where you can be alone if possible.
2. Sit in a comfortable position.
3. Close your eyes and take three deep breaths. Let your thoughts come and go.
4. Start to visualize a particular object-for example, a rose.
5. In your thoughts, start to repeat the word for the object-rose-over and over, at any speed or rhythm it wants to go.
6. As you continue to repeat the word, start to imagine the rose opening and closing in the same rhythm.
7. If distracting thoughts come into your mind, let them pass through. Continue to repeat your word and see its image.
8. Keeps this process going from two to twenty minutes.
9. When it is time to stop, open your eyes slowly.

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