Sri Aurobindo Ashram

It became one of India’s best-known spiritual communities, attracting devotees and visitors from around the world. It has about 1,200 members. Its school, the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education, has more than 400 students, and hundreds of former students and devotees live nearby. Situated in a city of nearly one million people, the Ashram is not a quiet place of retreat but a vibrant centre of life in a modern urban setting. The dynamic character of the community reflects the life-affirming aim of Sri Aurobindo's Yoga. Ashram members do not simply retire from the world to lead a quiet life of contemplation and meditation; they lead an active life of work, study and exercise.

• Name — Sri Aurobindo Ashram Ashram de Sri Aurobindo • Founder — The Mother, Sri Aurobindo • Type — Spiritual community • Status — Foundation • Purpose — Spirituality, Integral Yoga • Headquarters — Pondicherry, India (No Branches) • Main Organ — Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust

The Ashram is located mainly in the eastern part of Pondicherry, the former French quarter in which many French-colonial style buildings are still standing. The Ashram owns a large number of buildings spread throughout the area — houses in which Ashram members live and buildings in which they work. There are, in addition, several farms and gardens, some on the outskirts of Pondicherry. The heart of community life is the Ashram main building, often called simply "the Ashram". It consists of an interconnected block of houses, including those in which Sri Aurobindo and the Mother lived for most of their lives. At its centre is a tree-shaded courtyard where stands the "Samadhi", a white-marble shrine in which their bodies have been laid to rest. From this square block of buildings, other Ashram buildings spread out on all sides.

The Ashram provides its members with all they need for a sound and healthy life. Various departments and services have been organised to look after the basic requirements of food, clothing and shelter, medical and dental care. There are also two libraries for study, three grounds for physical activities, and a number of facilities for cultural pursuits. The Ashram has its own printing press and book distribution agency. There are several guest houses for visitors. The Ashram is a public charitable trust. It is administered by a five-member board of trustees. The trustees appoint the heads of the various departments, services, farms and gardens. The work of the various departments is coordinated by the trustees and the committees formed by them. The Ashram school — the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education — is an integral part of the Ashram Trust. After the Mother's death in 1973, no spiritual successor was selected and the trustees assumed day-to-day administration. Practitioners continued to follow Sri Aurobindo's and the Mother's written guidance.

The following is established of the heading itself. Associated with India. Institutional cataloguing adds that sri Aurobindo Ashram is recorded from 1926.