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Sri Aurobindo Ashram
Ashram de Sri Aurobindo
Formation24 November 1926 (99 years ago) (1926-11-24)
FounderThe Mother, Sri Aurobindo
TypeSpiritual community
Legal statusFoundation
PurposeSpirituality, Integral Yoga
HeadquartersPondicherry, India (No Branches)
Coordinates11°56′12″N 79°50′03″E / 11.936708°N 79.834039°E / 11.936708; 79.834039
Main organ
Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust
Websitesriaurobindoashram.org

The Sri Aurobindo Ashram is a spiritual community and ashram in Pondicherry (Puducherry), India. It was founded in 1926 by the Indian philosopher Sri Aurobindo and his spiritual collaborator Mirra Alfassa, known as "The Mother". [1][2] Over the years, the Ashram which also houses the samadhi of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother,[3] became the institutional centre of a modern spiritual movement based on Sri Aurobindo’s Integral Yoga.[1][2] It became one of India’s best-known spiritual communities, attracting devotees and visitors from around the world.[4][5]

It has about 1,200 members. Its school, the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education, has more than 400 students, and hundreds of former students and devotees live nearby. Situated in a bustling city of nearly one million 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. Ashram members do not simply retire from the world to lead a quiet life of contemplation and meditation; they lead an active life of work, study and exercise.

Locale

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The Ashram is located mainly in the eastern part of Pondicherry, the former French quarter in which many French-colonial style buildings are still standing. The Ashram owns a large number of buildings spread throughout the area — houses in which Ashram members live and buildings in which they work. There are, in addition, several farms and gardens, some on the outskirts of Pondicherry.[6]

The heart of community life is the Ashram main building, often called simply "the Ashram". It 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 is a tree-shaded courtyard where stands the "Samadhi", a white-marble shrine in which their bodies have been laid to rest. From this square block of buildings, other Ashram buildings spread out on all sides. [6]

Spiritual practice

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Central to Ashram life, of course, is the inner spiritual endeavour. Certain aspects of practice are essential to the Yoga and common to all: an aspiration for the divine life, rejection of the impulses of the lower nature, consecration of one's whole being, opening to the Divine Presence and Power, and self-giving to the Divine and its working in oneself. As for the expression of these principles in one's sadhana, it can take many forms. [6]

For this reason, there are in the Ashram no obligatory outer practices, no established rituals, no compulsory meditations, no systematic instructions in Yoga. Ashram members are free to determine the course and pace of their sadhana in accord with their nature. In theory and in practice, a great deal of freedom is given to the sadhaks to find their spiritual way.[6]

Samadhi of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother

Departments, services and administration

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Golconde Dormitory of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, completed in 1942, first modernist buiding of India.[7][8]

The Ashram provides its members with all they need for a sound and healthy life. Various departments and services have been organised to look after the basic requirements of food, clothing and shelter, medical and dental care. There are also two libraries for study, three grounds for physical activities, and a number of facilities for cultural pursuits. The Ashram has its own printing press and book distribution agency. There are several guest houses for visitors.[6]

The Ashram is a public charitable trust. It is administered by a five-member board of trustees. The trustees appoint the heads of the various departments, services, farms and gardens. The work of the various departments is coordinated by the trustees and the committees formed by them. The Ashram school — the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education — is an integral part of the Ashram Trust.[6]

Controversy

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In compliance with the Central Government's Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust constituted an Internal Complaints Committee in April 2014.[9]

In 2001, a female member was expelled from the ashram for violating a "mandatory rule".[10] Thereafter she filed charges of sexual harassment against various members. These charges were dismissed by committees and government agencies, all of which found the charges false.[11][12][13][14] The then chairperson of the National Commission for Women added that there "appeared to be malicious planning behind the complaints".[15]

See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 Heehs, Peter (August 2015). "Sri Aurobindo and his Ashram, 1910–2010: An Unfinished History". Nova Religio. 19 (1): 65–86. doi:10.1525/nr.2015.19.1.65. Retrieved 28 July 2026.
  2. 1 2 Minor, Robert N. (September 1979). "Sri Aurobindo's Integral View of Other Religions". Religious Studies. 15 (3): 365–377. doi:10.1017/S0034412500011501. Retrieved 28 July 2026.
  3. ↑ Pinto, Udar. "Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Samadhi". SITE OF SRI AUROBINDO & THE MOTHER. Retrieved 16 June 2025.
  4. ↑ "Tourism". Government of Puducherry. Government of Puducherry. Retrieved 28 July 2026.
  5. ↑ "Explore Puducherry: A French-Indian Cultural Delight". Incredible India. Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. Retrieved 28 July 2026.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sri Aurobindo and His Ashram (11th ed.). Sri Aurobindo Ashram Press, Pondicherry. ISBN 978-93-5210-328-7.
  7. ↑ Sharma, Komal (14 February 2017). "Golconde: The First Modernist Building in India". Metropolis Magazine. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  8. ↑ "Golconde: The Introduction of Modernism in India". ArchDaily. 10 June 2011. Retrieved 28 July 2026.
  9. ↑ Resolution No. 1270, 7 April 2014, retrieved 6 January 2016
  10. ↑ Report of the Enquiry Officer at the High Court of Chennai (PDF), 24 October 2002, retrieved 14 January 2014
  11. ↑ Judgment of The Judicial Magistrate at Pondicherry (PDF), 23 November 2004, retrieved 14 January 2014
  12. ↑ Report of the Fact Finding Enquiry Officer (Government of Pondicherry) in the matter of complaints among the residents in Ambabhikshu House and certain other Ashramites (PDF), 10 January 2005, retrieved 14 January 2014
  13. ↑ "Charges against Aurobindo Ashram false". The Hindu. 19 January 2005. Retrieved 14 January 2015.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  14. ↑ Enquiry Report of the National Human Right Commission, New Delhi (PDF), 12 April 2005, retrieved 14 January 2014
  15. ↑ "Five Aurobindo ashram inmates defy HC orders". The New Indian Express. 24 July 2010. Archived from the original on 15 August 2014.
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