Savitri — A Legend and a Symbol

Sri Aurobindo was born on 15 August, 1872. Auroville Today has often published something related to Sri Aurobindo in this, his birth month, and this year we feature an article on his epic poem, Savitri, by Richard Hartz.

Once upon a time a very long time ago, deep in the woods at the bottom of a mountain — Mother’s Mountain, mata-giri—a six-page newsletter called Collaboration came into being.

“The Transcendent Function is a psychic dynamic, if you want to transcend something you have to bring the opposites together. It can change everything, it is a transforming power and can be activated by sandplay, dreamwork, active imagination and other techniques which brings you to a different and wider levels of consciousness.

A 650-page study on Auroville’s organization, made by Professor Raag Yadava and his team, has been published. It is available on the Auroville website.

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.

On August 15th, 16th, and 17th, the illuminated fountain-pond at the Matrimandir Gardens was once again converted into a stage for a theatre presentation of ‘Usha and the Dawns to Come’.

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

Deepti Tewari joined Auroville 47 years ago and teaches at Last School. She is editor of the Bharat Nivas Journal. Earlier she had edited the Matrimandir Journal.

In the growth and busyness of today’s Auroville we can forget the many small miracles that contributed to its formation, those men and women of goodwill mysteriously drawn here, via dreams, books, synchronicities and all that chance entails.

Since joining Auroville in 2016, Anandi Zhang has taken up various work in the community. But she feels the most important work is that which she is dong upon herself.

“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.

Alokananda Roy is a Calcutta-based dancer and educationist who gave a dance performance in Auroville called ‘Envisioning Our Mother: Sri Aurobindo’ in October.

Savitri Bhavan has published its fifth volume of The English of Savitri, which deals with the first four Cantos of Book Two, the Book of the Traveller of the Worlds, the longest chapter of Savitri.

The Journey of Auroville festival, a project under the special grants from the Government of India for Auroville’s 50th anniversary, was most recently held in Kolkata (earlier called Calcutta) from 28 to 31 January 2019.

Gérard Maréchal, one of Auroville’s early pioneers, left his body in his Sukhavati home on January 2nd due to a fall caused by a heart failure.

The Government of India recently appointed Dr K. Parameswaran, Associate Professor of Law and Dean of External & Alumni Relations of the Gujarat National Law University in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, as Member of the Governing Board of the Auroville Foundation.

In November this year, Aurovilian Dr. Mira Aster Patel, in recognition of “her invaluable contribution in developing Auroville”, was awarded the Auro Ratna award from the Overman Foundation in a ceremony in the Hall of Harmony of the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram.

In a quiet back street of Edayanchavadi village there is a neat house. Beside it is a beautiful garden of plants and creepers with a magnificent statue of Ganesh.

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 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’).

Traveling during the early seventies through the Indian subcontinent brought me to Agra. One afternoon, I found myself sitting on the borders of the Yamuna River while watching a sand barge being loaded right behind the Taj Mahal.

Dr. Prema Nandakumar has written and spoken to audiences the world over about Sri Aurobindo's writings and philosophy. She is the author of many articles and books on Sri Aurobindo and on Indian culture.

“There is nothing which gives you a joy equal to that of gratitude. One hears a bird sing, sees a lovely flower, looks at a little child, observes an act of generosity, reads a beautiful sentence, looks at the setting sun, no matter what, suddenly this comes upon you, this kind of emotion – indeed so deep, so intense – that the world manifests the Divine, that there is something behind the world which is the Divine.”

The English of Savitri Volume 2 deals with Book Three, The Book of the Divine Mother. This volume, the second in the series The English of Savitri, is based on classes led by Shraddhavan at Savitri Bhavan.

“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.

The name of Dominique Darr is indissolubly connected to the early days of Auroville. Who in Auroville doesn’t know her photo of a lone granite stone with the letters AV painted on it, marking Auroville land?

Transforming Lives, an introduction to Sri Aurobindo’s Integral Yoga, is a compilation of articles by Larry Seidlitz that have appeared in the journal Collaboration over the last ten years.