August 15th, 2023

August 15, 2023, Sri Aurobindo’s 151th birthday anniversary and India’s Independence day, was celebrated in Auroville with many events. The Indian flag was displayed on a recently installed flagpole in front of the Town Hall and there was the traditional dawn bonfire at the Matrimandir amphitheatre. Spiritual leader Sri M was invited to hold a morning meditation at the Town Hall and later participated in a ‘Unity walk’ along the Crown. 

Two new commemorative films were released, the animation ‘Sri Aurobindo: A new Dawn’ and Olivier Barot’s ‘Sri Aurobindo and the Earth’s Future’. The Pavilion of Tibetan Culture hosted children’s activities. A unique 10-page colouring book of Sri Aurobindo’s early life was created for children to colour in, which narrated the story of his youth and return to India in pictures and text. There was also story-telling, and making dream-catchers and cards of Mother’s 12 qualities in the four official languages of Auroville. One could also make photo frames of Mother and Sri Aurobindo, including, as a nice touch, images of them both as children. Lastly, a snack area was set up with fruit, cake, pizza, juice and sandwiches. For the adults, peace flags were made by Meike and her team as an offering on this day. 

Afterwards, at the Inuksuk, a 10 meter-wide flower mandala of Sri Aurobindo’s symbol was created with candles lit by children. Music was played by Adhara on flute and Hartmut on keyboard, and later others performed. Children were running around, Johnny was making his tea, while friends gathered together and caught up. There were readings of Sri Aurobindo’s writings in English and Tamil before the bonfire was lit, quickly blazing to the heavens. To conclude the festivities, a light dinner was offered to the hundreds of participants by many volunteers. The afternoon and evening community event was attended by approximately 700 residents.