Auroville

Aurobindo Ghose and Mira Alfassa

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Aurobindo Ghose was born in Calcutta, in northern India on August 15, 1872. 7 years later, he left for England for his studies and it was not until 1906 that he returned to his hometown in India. He settles there and launches out in an open and committed manner in the political fight opposing the English occupier. It is a fight which is so close to his heart that he will spend almost a year in prison, for having been accused of having participated in an attack against the English. In 1910, he went to Pondicherry, leaving politics aside, to devote the rest of his life to the spiritual practice of yoga, until his death on December 5, 1950.

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Mirra Alfassa, or more commonly known as “The Mother”, was born on February 21, 1878 in Paris, has a great passion for literature and philosophy. In 1914, she met Sri Aurobindo in Pondicherry, to become her spiritual collaborator.

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Sri Aurobindo Ashram

Both founded the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in 1926 in the eastern part of Pondicherry. The ashram has an education center of more than 400 students and has a total of more than 1,600 devotees who live nearby. Practitioners are called “Sadhaks”.

Anyone who enters the ashram must surrender to the Divine and open up to the Divine Force in order to be able to transform their being. A new new mode of consciousness is unfolding called the "Supermind". The notion of integral yoga is central, which can be defined as the conscious search for self-perfection, for balance, for harmony.

Note : Each year, from January 4 to 7, the yoga festival takes place in Pondicherry.