Savitri Bhavan

Nishtha (Siegfried) Mueller is a long-term Aurovilian, Sanskrit teacher, Veda researcher, and passionate life-long learner. For more than forty years he has devoted himself to Sri Aurobindo’s The Secret of the Veda and Hymns to the Mystic Fire, to the study and restoration of some of the ancient hymns and to sharing a living approach to Sanskrit with spiritual seekers.

On 14 August Dr. Karan Singh, who has been Chairman of the Governing Board of the Auroville Foundation for more than 20 years, briefly visited Auroville.

Founded in 2020, the BORN IN FIRE residency at Phoenix Potteries (Auromodѐle) has become an important space for ceramic artists to refine their skills in anagama (‘cave’ in Japanese, it is a single-chamber, wood-fired kiln, often built into a hillside, known for its unique firing process and the natural ash glazes it produces, creating unpredictable and beautiful results) and wood firing.

The Auroville Visitors Centre is Auroville’s reception and information disseminating centre for the often thousands of tourists and visitors coming to Auroville daily.

Krishna Devanandan has a background as a dancer, cultural event organiser and teacher of Tai Chi. She helped organise the Auroville Film Festivals and managed the Auroville Art Service from its inception in 2012 until 2023, when the Auroville Foundation appointed new executives.

From July 24th till August 18th, Savitri Bhavan hosted the exhibition ‘Darshan Messages’. It not only showcased the original cards from 1953 onwards, but also the evolution of the tradition of Darshan card gifting which has been stopped since January 2023.

The 5th Tamil Nadu Young Thinkers Meet was organised between 3rd and 5th November in Auroville’s Savitri Bhavan. The community was not informed of this closed event.

On May 27th, Bharat Nivas inaugurated Ekattva Maarg [meaning Discovery Path], a Unity Path to discover Auroville. The pathway comprises the loop that starts at the Visitors Centre and passes through Bharat Nivas, Unity Pavilion, Savitri Bhavan, the Matrimandir Viewing point and ends at the Visitors Centre.

On the occasion of Sri Aurobindo’s 150th anniversary, the Sri Aurobindo Centre for Advanced Research (SACAR) in Pondicherry received a grant of Rs.12 lakhs (approx.

After completing his higher studies at Delhi University, Dr. Jai Singh joined Auroville in 1992. His wife and children joined a year later. Jai has been a member of the Auroville Council, and has also worked at SEWA, Village Action and New Creation School.

Shraddhavan, the executive of Savitri Bhavan, left her body on July 19th, 2022, aged 80 years.

To celebrate Sri Aurobindo’s 150th birth anniversary, Savitri Bhavan hosted “Blessings”, an exhibition of the photographs of Sri Aurobindo made by Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Savitri Bhavan hosted an Auroville art retrospective 2021 from 17 December till 14 January. Works by Sathya, Shinso, Audrey, Hufreesh, Xinpeng, Abhijit, Sangara and Birgitta were displayed.

On June 26th, 26 June, Durai Munusamy passed away at the age of 55 due to suicide near his house in Agni. Hailing from Edaiyanchavadi village, Durai had been living in Auroville since 1992 and worked at Savitri Bhavan as a garden supervisor.

One year ago, people searching YouTube for videos about Auroville would have noticed that many of the items that first showed up were produced by people who had visited Auroville for only a few days.

“Sri Aurobindo announced that mankind will enter the subjective age, that a new civilisation is going to come where the primary thrust will be inwards,” says Shraddhavan.

On February 2, Martin Sobieroj passed away in his room at Arka. He was 76 and had been suffering from pancreatic cancer. Martin was ready to go and had opted to stay away from heavy treatment and follow the natural course of the disease, a choice which he – admirably – adhered to apart from accepting some pain plasters at the very end.

Riju Anatoly Bukov left his body in Marika’s House at 10.30am on September 22nd. Having grappled with a weak heart for many years, a massive stroke proved to be too much.

Savitri Bhavan has set up a flower nursery. They explain that it is “dedicated to the spiritual atmosphere that flowers create. Here we grow environmentally adapted plants with joyful loving care, whose flowers are given spiritual significance by the Mother.

Many years ago, in issue # 188 of September 2004, Auroville Today reported about the work of Hufreesh Dumasia Chopra, a young Auroville artist.

On the early morning of 5 November, Roza Tuh, from Moldova, left her body at the age of 77 in her Citadines apartment. She had been suffering from Melanoma (skin cancer).

Barely three months after the publication of the third volume of The English of Savitri series, Savitri Bhavan has published the fourth volume, dealing with Book Ten, The Book of the Double Twilight.

Nergez H. Pesikaka peacefully left this world at the age of 97 on Wednesday August 22 in her flat in the Creativity settlement of Auroville.

On June 21, 2018, Shri M.V. Chunkath, Secretary of the Auroville Foundation, opened the newly enlarged Picture Gallery at Savitri Bhavan, which will permanently display the entire series of paintings ‘Meditations on Savitri’ by Huta.

The occasion was celebrated with song, dance and poetry from around Europe

That the visit of Sri Narendra Modi would cause a lot of commotion was to be expected. Just how much became clear by the middle of January, when the Aurovilians found out that access to many roads was blocked, diverting them to dusty bypasses.

The continuous reading of Sri Aurobindo’s epic poem Savitri will start in the Savitri Bhavan, Sangam Hall on Monday 19.02.2018 at 3a.m. (‘The hour before the Gods awake’).

“Auroville is created to realize the ideal of Sri Aurobindo who taught us the Karma Yoga. Auroville is for those who want to do the Yoga of work.

“I have tried to explain the meaning of some words and phrases and images that might be difficult to understand … to assist those who aspire to take some first steps towards experiencing the inexhaustible magic and richness and power of Sri Aurobindo’s incomparable poetry”, writes Shraddhavan in The English of Savitri.

Auroville International France, which has had a close relationship with the UNESCO headquarters in Paris through the years, has been collaborating to change the venue of the Sri Aurobindo statue at UNESCO.