Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry

"The great clairvoyant, poet and prophet of the twentieth century, Shri Aurobindo founded the Ashram in Pondicherry when it was a French colony and put in place his ideas of peaceful community.

His vision and ideals continue to draw People from all over the world. He began the practice of yoga in 1905 and worked out a new system of mind development which he called Integral Yoga.

The ashram for long was run by his French companion Mirra Alfassa, universally known as the Mother. At night time, today, Pondicherrians who believe in Sri Aurobindo's way of life, wind their way ashramward.

Inside the ashram the lights throw a welcome radiance and this is where the flower-decked samadhi (cremation site) of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother presides.

A marble white tomb, intricately decorated with flowers and overshadowed by a large tree, offers serenity and quiet. There is complete silence, no one is permitted to talk, nor is anyone permitted to make offerings of flowers. Men and women meditate with their eyes fixed on the marble samadhi. The silence, flowers and incense are the ways to lead the mind away from work. The ashram's course of action are not bounded by rituals or particular instructions each member is free to meditate the way he or she desires.

Footwear is to be left behind on the opposite side of the road, on specially constructed racks. A bookstore on the same road provides lots of material on their teachings. Timings for visiting the Samadhi tend to change, but it is open both in the mornings and in the evenings.

The ashram is a diversified community with more than 1,200 members out of which 400 are the students of the centre of education.