Program Schedule
March 29, 2024

110 th Anniversary of The Mother's first arrival in Pondicherry and first meeting with Sri Aurobindo

(The Mother came to Pondicherry for the first time on 29 th March 1914)

When I came here for the first time, I felt the atmosphere of Sri Aurobindo, felt it materially at a distance of ten miles, ten nautical miles, not kilometres. It was very sudden, very concrete, an atmosphere pure, luminous, light, light that lifts you up.

As soon as I saw Sri Aurobindo I recognised in him the well-known being whom I used to call Krishna.... And this is enough to explain why I am fully convinced that my place and my work are near him, in India.

—The Mother (CWM, Vol. XIII)

The Mother returned home after her first arrival in 1914 and came back to settle in Pondicherry permanently on 24 th April 1920 .

Sri Aurobindo on The Mother

The more complete your faith, sincerity and surrender, the more will grace and protection be with you. And when the grace and protection of the Divine Mother are with you, what is there that can touch you or whom need you fear? A little of it even will carry you through all difficulties, obstacles and dangers; surrounded by its full presence you can go securely on your way because it is hers, careless of all menace, unaffected by any hostility however powerful, whether from this world or from worlds invisible. Its touch can turn difficulties into opportunities, failure into success and weakness into unfaltering strength. For the grace of the Divine Mother is the sanction of the Supreme and now or tomorrow its effect is sure, a thing decreed, inevitable and irresistible.

—Sri Aurobindo

Offerings

The Mother’s first arrival in Pondicherry on 29 March 1914 was observed in the Ashram with an Invocation for the divine Presence by Srila Basu in the Meditation Hall. In the afternoon, the outgoing batch of Vocational Trainees after completing their one year course received Certificates in the Meditation Hall. The event was anchored by two trainees, Kusma and Wangmo. All outgoing students were invited to express their views about the course and their stay in the Ashram. Many were appreciative of the peaceful atmosphere and a family feeling in the Ashram. Tangible gains mentioned by many included learning the use of computers and the English language; getting exposed to art and craft, music, dance and theatre; regular sports, shramdaan and meditation; and picking up life skills such as punctuality, discipline and time management. Thereafter several of the teachers involved in different trades of the vocational training spoke about their experience with this batch of trainees and tendered parting advice for their future.

In the evening, Ashram Community and visitors kindled lights of aspiration at and near Sri Aurobindo’ Shrine. Subsequently, in the Meditation Hall, Dr. Mithu Pal sang a devotional song which she was inspired to pen down that very morning beginning with the lyrics: Samay aa gayaahai, Sri Maa ab aayengi; Nauka bhavsaagar se lekarnabh se veutarengi (The time has come for the arrival of the Mother; She will descend from the sky on earth in a celestial boat). Then Dr. Ramesh Bijlani gave a brief talk on the historical significance of Mother’s first arrival on 29 March 1914. Though the sojourn was to last not even a full year, it triggered the start of a momentous journal, Arya (from 1914 to 1921) in which most of the major works of Sri Aurobindo were first published in serial form.