150th birth anniversary of Sri Aurobindo

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On the occasion of the 150th Birth Anniversary of Maharshi Aurobindo and the 75th Year of  Independence, the Union Ministry of Culture is commemorating the life and philosophy of Shri Aurobindo by undertaking Spiritual Programmes in 75 prisons across the nation from 12 to 15th August.

Important facts

• These programs aim to transform the lives of inmates by imbibing Aurobindo's philosophy and adopting yoga and meditation.

• The ministry has partnered with notable spiritual leaders and organizations to carry out these programs.

• Mainly keeping in mind the association with the national freedom struggle, the Ministry of Culture has identified 75 prisons across the country where these events will be held.

• Five organizations including Ramakrishna Mission, Patanjali, Art of Living, Isha Foundation and Satsang Foundation have been roped in to organize the programme.

Who was Maharshi Aurobindo?

• He was born in Calcutta on 15th August 1872.

• He was a yogi, seer, philosopher, poet and Indian nationalist.

• He propounded the principle of divine life philosophy on earth through spiritual development.

• His education began at a Christian convent school in Darjeeling.

• He entered the University of Cambridge, where he mastered two classical and several modern European languages.

• He cleared the ICS exam securing 11th rank out of 250 candidates.

• He also studied yoga and Indian languages, including classical Sanskrit.

Role in Indian Revolutionary Movement

• He participated in the struggle to free India from the British from the year 1902 to 1910.

• He was imprisoned by the British in the year 1908 in the Alipore Bomb Case.

• Two years later he fled British India and took refuge in the French colony of Pondicherry.

• He converted his entire life in Pondicherry into a complete and spiritual form and devoted himself to the development of yoga.

• In Pondicherry he founded a community of spiritual seekers which took shape in the year 1926 as Sri Aurobindo Ashram.

His literary works

• Bhagavad Gita and Its Message

• Bases of Yoga

• The Future Evolution of Man

• Rebirth and Karma

• Hour of God