The 24th of April 2020 marks the Centenary of the Mother’s final arrival in Pondicherry. Mirra Alfassa who came to be later known as the Mother, set foot in Pondicherry for the first time in 1914 and met Sri Aurobindo. She returned to Pondicherry again on April 24, 1920 to settle permanently and begin her work. Devotees of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram were looking forward to the centenary celebrations of this important occasion. But the lockdown has resulted in a change of plans and they would have to settle for a virtual darshan this year.
The Centenary of the Mother’s final arrival in Pondicherry is a darshan day; these are generally marked by people from all over the country thronging the samadhi for meditation, queueing up to visit Sri Aurobindo’s or the Mother’s rooms depending on the occasion and the distribution of special darshan message cards.
But this year, with the lockdown and Section 144 being in place, the Ashram Main Building will remain closed and nobody should gather outside at any point, a note by the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust advises. “Please stay at home and make use of this unique situation to go deeper within and remain connected with the Mother and Sri Aurobindo inwardly.”
How to access the darshan?
You can access the morning meditation on the official website www.sriaurobindoashram.org or on Youtube here
The morning meditation would be streamed as a live camera feed from the samadhi from 05.55 am – 06.30 am.
The recorded video of the Samadhi during the morning meditation will be available for at least 24 hours so that disciples in other time zones can also view it at their convenience.
There will also be an evening meditation streamed between 07.45 pm- 08.15 pm with a recording of the Mother’s reading and an organ music piece. Even though the Ashram Main Building remains closed, the Meditation Hall and the Rooms of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo are being prepared as it is done for every Darshan.
Darshan message cards are uploaded on the Ashram website – you can read it or print it out .
Feature Photo: Bose Arnab
