Independence Day & Sri Aurobindo’s Birth Anniversary – 15th August 2025

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Sri Aurobindo Sakti Centre, along with its units — Sri Aurobindo Bal Mandir School, the Art and Music Section, and the Sri Ma Library observed the 79th Independence Day of India and the 153rd birth anniversary of Sri Aurobindo on 15th August 2025. The celebrations began at 8:00 a.m. with the hoisting of the National Flag by the Managing Trustee of the institution, who also serves as the Principal of Sri Aurobindo Bal Mandir. This was followed by a vibrant cultural presentation. Students of Sri Aurobindo Bal Mandir performed a choreographed dance recital, followed by a group dance by the senior students from the Art Section Dance class. Children also presented a chorus songs. All students present, including those from the Art and Music Section, were offered cakes and chocolates as part of the celebration.

A meditation session was held at the Shrine from 10:30 a.m. providing a moment of quiet reflection. Later, a cultural programme was held in tribute to Sri Aurobindo. The performance included a rendition of Raag Desh on the sitar, followed by a dhun played by Shri Souravbrata Chakraborty, accompanied on the tabla by Shri Sudip Chattopadhyay, an eminent tabla player of West Bengal. Miss Meghna Ganguly, a B-High graded vocalist of All India Radio from Siliguri, presented a selection of devotional and patriotic songs on the occasion. The programme concluded with the distribution of prasad to all devotees, guests, and staff members of the Institution.

The Mother’s 147th Birth anniversary observed – 21st February 2025

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The 147th Birth Anniversary of The Mother was observed with reverence and enthusiasm at Sri Aurobindo Sakti Centre, New Alipore with its units viz. Sri Aurobundo Bal Mandir School and Art-Music-Dance Section, on 21st February 2025. The day commenced with the arrival of students at Sri Aurobindo Bal Mandir School offering their respects at the Shrine and received gifts and chocolates. A meditation session was held at the Shrine from 4:00 to 4:15 pm, fostering a serene and atmosphere. This was followed by the inauguration of an art and craft exhibition featuring works of students from the Art Section of the institution. The exhibition was formally opened by Shri Biswajit Ganguly, Managing Member of Sri Aurobindo Bhavan, Kolkata.

The evening programme began with an address by the Managing Trustee of the Centre cum Principal of Sri Aurobindo Bal Mandir School. In his speech, he highlighted the institution’s achievements, which have been guided by the ideas and ideals of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. This was followed by the distribution of prizes to meritorious students of Sri Aurobindo Bal Mandir, recognizing their accomplishments. A cultural programme was then presented by the present and former students, along with teachers of the institution. The performances revolved around the theme of student preparation and the deep bond between students and teachers at the school. The event was graced by the presence of parents, guardians, and distinguished guests, including school principals and visitors from Tamluk, Siliguri and Shillong.

The celebrations continued on 22nd February with the prize distribution ceremony of the Art Section. This was followed by a cultural programme ending with a drama featuring performances by students and instructors from the Art, Music, and Dance Sections of the institution. Parents and guardians of students attended the programme, appreciating the efforts and talents displayed. The art and craft exhibition was also visited by parents, guardians, and guests, who admired the creativity and hard work of the students.

On both days, Prasad was distributed, adding to the spiritual and festive atmosphere of the occasion. The two-day celebration was a fitting tribute to The Mother, reinforcing the values and teachings that the institution upholds.

Siddhi Day observed – 24th November 2024

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On the occasion of Sri Aurobindo’s Siddhi Day, 24th November (2024) Sri Aurobindo Sakti Centre hosted an enlightening event featuring Shri Subrata Sen as the keynote speaker. Addressing the topic “Sri Aurobindo’s Mahasiddhi and its relevance in the solutions of our problems,” Shri Sen eloquently explored how Sri Aurobindo’s spiritual realization offers timeless guidance for overcoming life’s challenges. The Centre was beautifully adorned with lamps, symbolizing the light of higher consciousness and divine grace. Devotees gathered in a serene atmosphere of devotion and reflection, paying homage to Sri Aurobindo’s legacy and the transformative power of his teachings on this sacred day.

Independence Day & Sri Aurobindo Jayanti – 15th August 2024

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Sri Aurobindo Sakti Centre with its units Sri Aurobindo Bal Mandir, Art and Music Section and Sri Ma Library observed the country’s 78th Independence Day and the 152nd birth anniversary of Sri Aurobindo on 15th August 2024. Hoisting of the National Tricolour took place at 8.00 a.m. by the Managing Trustee of the institution and Principal of Sri Aurobindo Bal Mandir. The students and teachers of Sri Aurobindo Bal Mandir performed a choreographed dance recital on patriotic songs with short portrayals on the lives of eminent revolutionaries. All students, including those of the Art and Music Section, who were present were given cakes and chocolates. Meditation was held at the Shrine from 10.30 to 10.45 a.m. There was a cultural programme, paying tribute to Sri Aurobindo on the occasion – song offerings by Sri Riton Kumar Dhar and flute recital by Sri Ranadhir Das, guest performers from Chittagong, Bangladesh, both empaneled artists of Bangladesh Betaar and Bangladesh Television. Accompanying on the tabla was Sri Sudip Chattopadhyay, eminent tabla player of West Bengal. Prasad was distributed to devotees, guests and workers of the Institution in the end.

Sri Ma Jayanti observed on 21st February 2024

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Sri Aurobindo Sakti Centre (New Alipore, Kolkata) and its wings viz. Sri Aurobindo Bal Mandir School, Art Section and Sri Ma Library observed 146th birth anniversary of The Mother on 21st February 2024. In the morning, students of Sri Aurobindo Bal Mandir arrived to receive toys and chocolates on the auspicious occasion.

Jayanti meditation was at the Shrine in the afternoon. An art and craft exhibition organised for this occasion was inaugurated by Dr. Abhijit Ray, Professor and Head of the Department of Film Studies, Jadavpur University. Prizes were handed over to students and staff who performed well and were regular during the previous year. The students, ex-students and staff of Sri Aurobindo Bal Mandir presented a cultural programme as an offering to The Mother, a dance ensemble on the unity amidst diversity of India and a drama based on Rabindranath Tagore’s “Tota Kahini” portraying the fallacy of the conventional education system and the need to move to a free progress one. Prasad was distributed at the end of the programme.

The observation of the auspicious occasion moved into the following day, 22nd February, when the Art Section with its students and staff joined in to pay homage to The Mother with a cultural programme and a drama subsequent to distribution of prizes and certificates to candidates who had performed well in the previous year. Both evenings saw gathering of parents of students and guests who witnessed the performances.

Siddhi Day observed on 24th November 2023

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24th of November SIDDHI DIWAS, a significant day for all Sri Aurobindo devotees, the day of descent of the overmental consciousness into the physical, the day after which Sri Aurobindo withdrew to pursue his rigorous sadhana for the descent of the Supramental consciousness on earth and the Mother took charge of the running of the Ashram. The day was observed at Sri Aurobindo Sakti Centre with a talk in the evening by Dr. Saurabh Mukherjee, devotee of Sri Aurobindo, Lecturer of Philosophy, Sanskrit College, Kolkata, on the significance of Siddhi Day and its implications in our life when it comes to implementation of the ideas and ideals propagated by Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. The workers and devotees were present. On the day, every year, Sri Aurobindo Sakti Centre premises is decorated with lamps.

Sri Aurobindo as a teacher in the present day perspective – a talk

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On the 9th November 2023, Sri Aurobindo Sakti Centre organised a programme at the first floor hall of its New Alipore premises, where eminent speaker on Sri Aurobindo and a senior teacher Shri Bhaskar Mukherjee delivered an enlightening talk on the topic – “Sri Aurobindo as a teacher in the present day perspective”. He mentioned about the very specific and successful role Sri Aurobindo played as a teacher though for a shorter period when compared with his roles as a freedom struggle leader and a spiritual thinker and sadhak. Shri Mukherjee in his detailed and attractive deliberation pointed out the uniqueness of Sri Aurobindo’s way of teaching from the accounts of the students and showed how the method he adopted during the end nineteenth century and early twentieth century years are still relevant even today. While discussing on the educational ideas of Sri Aurobindo, Shri Mukherjee revealed before the audience the parallels between those ideas and principles and the ones going to get adopted in the Policy of National Education by the Government of India. Shri Mukherjee concluded his talk with the mention of the uniqueness of Sri Aurobindo as Guru or the Spiritual teacher. The programme was attended by people most of whom belonged to the teaching community, attached to various schools and colleges.

Darshan Day (24th April) at Sri Aurobindo Sakti Centre

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Darshan Day commemorating The Mother’s permanent arrival in Pondicherry was observed with due reverence at Sri Aurobindo Sakti Centre on Monday, 24th April 2023, at the Centre Hall from 6 p.m. Shri Anurag Banerjee, Founder Chairman of Overman Foundation and a member of the Board of Trustees at Sri Aurobindo Sakti Centre, spoke on the occasion on the relevance of The Mother’s permanent coming to India and her subsequent work which may act as instances of guidance in our life.

The Mother’s Birthday (Sri Ma Jayanti) – 21st February 2023

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The Mother’s Birthday was observed with due solemnity on Tuesday 21st February (2023) at Sri Aurobindo Sakti Centre, New Alipore, Kolkata. Students of the School – Sri Aurobindo Bal Mandir came with parents, paid their respects to The Mother and received gifts. The evening programme began with inauguration of an exhibition of works of art and craft by the Art Section, followed by a talk on integral education by Ms. Deepanwita Sarkar, teacher of biology at St. Joseph & Mary’s School. New Alipore and devotional songs by Sri Sreedeep Mondal accompanied by Sri Sudip Chatterjee on the tabla. Teachers, present as well as ex-students of Sri Aurobindo Bal Mandir presented a drama based on the theme of joyful learning and thereafter, a dance recital depicting four aspects of The Mother – Maheswari, Mahalakshmi, Mahasaraswati and Mahakali.

The Art Section of the Centre presented a cultural programme by their students the next day (Wednesday 22nd February) and a drama by the instructors of the same. Parents and guests visited the exhibition which remained open and watched the performance of the students and instructors.

Interesting aspect of “The Moon” at Sri Aurobindo Sakti Centre

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On Friday, 20th January 2023, Shri Partha Ghosh, ex-Professor of Kalna Polytechnic gave an interesting presentation on “The Moon” at Sri Aurobindo Sakti Centre. His presentation encompassed aspects related to the moon viz. its phases, the phenomena of eclipses, its influences on earth (like tides), itas movements and where it is headed to. Apart from regular visitors at the Centre, teachers from other schools in the vicinity and a few students attended the show.