Om Namo Bhagavate Sri Aravindaya

The black and white photographs in this site have been selected and arranged in an attempt to bring out the depth of spiritual vibration that radiates from Sri Aurobindo’s photographs. There are four categories of photographs: Sri Aurobindo’s youth in England and his political period before imprisonment; his time in Alipore Jail and his early stay in Pondicherry, photographs taken by Cartier-Bresson in April 1950; and pictures of his Mahasamadhi. Most are unretouched photographs, arranged without chronology or theme or identifying remarks.

Sri Aurobindo was born in Calcutta on 15 August 1872. At the age of seven he was taken to England for education. There he studied at St. Paul’s School, London, and at King’s College, Cambridge. Returning to India in 1893, he worked for the next thirteen years in the Princely State of Baroda in the service of the Maharaja and as a professor in Baroda College. During this period he also joined a revolutionary society and took a leading role in secret preparations for an uprising against the British Government in India.

In 1906, soon after the Partition of Bengal, Sri Aurobindo quit his post in Baroda and went to Calcutta, where he soon became one of the leaders of the Nationalist movement. He was the first political leader in India to openly put forward, in his newspaper Bande Mataram, the idea of complete independence for the country. Prosecuted twice for sedition and once for conspiracy, he was released each time for lack of evidence.

Sri Aurobindo had begun the practice of Yoga in 1905 in Baroda. In 1908 he had the first of several fundamental spiritual realisations. In 1910 he withdrew from politics and went to Pondicherry in order to devote himself entirely to his inner spiritual life and work. During his forty years in Pondicherry he evolved a new method of spiritual practice, which he called the Integral Yoga. Its aim is a spiritual realisation that not only liberates man’s consciousness but also transforms his nature. In 1926, with the help of his spiritual collaborator, the Mother, he founded the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Among his many writings are The Life Divine, The Synthesis of Yoga and Savitri. Sri Aurobindo left his body on 5 December 1950.

The Mother – Mirra Alfassa

The Mother was born Mirra Alfassa in Paris on 21 February 1878. A pupil at the Academie Julian, she became an accomplished artist, and also excelled as a pianist and writer. Interested in occultism, she visited Tlemcen, Algeria, in 1905 and l906 to study with the adept Max Theon and his wife. Her primary interest, however, was spiritual development. In Paris she founded a group of spiritual seekers and gave talks to various groups.

In 1914 the Mother voyaged to Pondicherry to meet Sri Aurobindo, whom she at once recognised as the one who for many years had inwardly guided her spiritual development. After a stay of eleven months she was obliged to return to France due to the outbreak of the First World War. A year later she went to Japan for a period of four years.

In April 1920 the Mother rejoined Sri Aurobindo in Pondicherry. When the Sri Aurobindo Ashram was formed in November 1926, Sri Aurobindo entrusted its full material and spiritual charge to the Mother. Under her guidance, which continued for nearly fifty years, the Ashram grew into a large, many-faceted spiritual community. In 1952 she established Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education, and in 1968 an international township, Auroville.The Mother left her body on 17 November 1973.

Sri Aurobindo & the Mother

About

Sri Aurobindo Marketing Agency is a unit of Mirra Enterprise.

Mirra Enterprise is the business wing of Adan Pradan Trust.

Adan Pradan Trust is a Business Charitable Organisation associated with Sri Aurobindo Ashram – a spiritual institution, established by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother in the early quarter of the last century.

On the 29th February, 1992, Adan Pradan Trust was started with a Declaration of Trust, by a Trustee of Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust for the benefit of Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry with late Mr. R. K Talwar, ex-chairman of State Bank of India, as the Managing Trustee and another two members of Sri Aurobindo Ashram as Trustees.

It is a charitable institution and not a profit making body. The primary beneficiary of the trust is Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry. It was started for exporting products manufactured by the units of Sri Aurobindo Ashram Harpagon Workshop Trust.

You may click on the buttons above to see and order the photographs you would like to have. If you don’t find the one you want then please share the Photograph number as per the Catalogue below by email with us and then we will do the needful and get back to you.