Sri Smriti is an unusual collection of 650 items, many of which have been used by The Mother and some gifts given to Her. All of these exhibits have been touched by The Mother and given to Tara di and some others who have kept them with great care.

The exhibition contains different objects: articles of private use, bookmarks, pieces of art, handmade decorations. Each article has great value for us beyond the aesthetic beauty, objects say about the time, fashion, tastes as having a historical significance in any museum.

«Tapasya» has a few guest rooms which are run with a spirit of service to the Divine. The guests, devotees or seekers who seek a spiritual life and wish to imbibe the teachings of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother are welcome to stay.

They are expected to abide by the rules and discipline of the Ashram, participating in the community life and helping with the cleanliness, maintenance and growth of the Ashram.

Stay at Tapasya

We have a spacious dining hall which can accommodate approximately 200 people. Food served is simple and nutritious cooked under hygienic conditions in the Ashram Kitchen.

It is primarily for the ashramite, aspirants and trainees. Food is also available to visitors/ guests at a nominal charge. Lunch coupons are available at the Ashram reception.

The dining hall has fixed timings of service:

• Breakfast 7 a.m. to 8 a.m.
• Lunch 11.45 a.m. to 1.00 p.m.
• Tea 4.30 p.m. to 5.00 p.m.
• Dinner 7.40 p.m. to 8.10 p.m.

The library has a growing collection of good books and periodicals on yoga, religion, philosophy, literature, education, science, history, geography, health and hygiene etc. The collection represents 16 Indian and foreign languages.

• The library is open (Tuesday — Sunday) from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• A security amount Rs. 300/- (refundable) is to be deposited at the Ashram Office before getting books issued from the library.
• Donation of good books and periodicals to the library is welcome.

The Delhi Branch handles sale of all Ashram(Pondicherry and Delhi) publications and photographs. It also sells incense, handmade paper and stationery, greeting cards, CDs of devotional songs and other Ashram products.

SABDA can be reached on (011)65684153. It is open from 9:30 am to 6:30 pm Monday to Saturday and from 9:30 am to 1:30pm on Sundays.

While the health centre primarily caters to the needs of the school children and the Ashramites, its services are open to all. The unit houses a permanent allopathic dispensary as well as many speciality clinics viz. Homeopathy, Gynecology, Dental surgery, Opthalmology, pediatrics and more. Specialized services are available by appointment. The centre also holds regular yoga, Ayurveda Therapies and eye camps. The centre also provides free services and medicines to the economically poor.

It runs rural clinics in villages around Nainital in Uttarkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa etc where in addition to free medical aid, clothes and other essentials are also distributed to the needy. The eye camps provide free intraocular transplants and spectacles to the economically weaker sections of society . Timings of the health centre are 8 am to 3.30 pm Monday through Saturday.

We have a well-organised, modern kitchen, where simple nutritious food is cooked under hygienic conditions for the residents and guests and served in the Ashram dining room. The bakery produces high quality soya products, brown bread and a variety of nutritious biscuits and cakes without eggs.

The Centre of Photography was inaugurated on 24 April 1979 by Sri Surendra Nath Jauhar, Chairman, Delhi Branch with the following message:

«Let this Centre of Photography inaugurated today in Sri Aurobindo Ashram — Delhi Branch, revolutionize the spirit of photography, that the expressions caught, processed and developed bring out and reveal the Divine Spirit.»

The Centre provides photographs of Ashram functions, outings and excursions, exhibitions, publications etc. Photographs of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother are also available.

The first studio started as a dark room to develop the negatives of photographs taken by Tara di. With the advent of digital photography, the dark room was converted into a recording studio in which currently in-house meditation music, talks and reading sessions are recorded to be distributed and archived, as well as recordings for both the schools, The Mother»s International School and mirambika in support of school programmes.

Tapan da, who joined the Ashram in 1980, learnt photography techniques from Tara di and took charge of the studio and, to this day, remains with the studio, overseeing its functions.