Sri Aurobindo Ashram

Sri Aurobindo Ashram is a well-known spiritual community located in White Town, Puducherry. Founded in 1926 by Sri Aurobindo and developed with Mirra Alfassa (The Mother), it is centered around the Samadhi of both leaders. The ashram includes meditation areas, libraries, and work departments. It attracts visitors seeking quiet reflection, spiritual study, and insight into Integral Yoga, and remains a central landmark of Puducherry.

Visitors enter a quiet, white-walled complex in White Town centered on a flower-decorated Samadhi courtyard where silent meditation is observed. The ashram includes meditation halls, libraries, book sales and exhibition areas, and departments for handmade paper, incense and crafts. The atmosphere is calm and disciplined, with visitors walking quietly, sitting in meditation, browsing spiritual literature, and observing daily ashram life. Photography and noise are restricted inside the main building.

Sri Aurobindo, philosopher and yogi, arrived in Puducherry in 1910 and began spiritual practice with a small group of disciples. The Ashram was formally founded on 24 November 1926. Mirra Alfassa, known as The Mother, took charge of its organization and development, expanding its departments and establishing the principles of Integral Yoga. The Samadhi enshrines the mortal remains of both Sri Aurobindo (d. 1950) and The Mother (d. 1973).

The ashram is a centre for Integral Yoga and spiritual practice, attracting followers and visitors from India and abroad. It functions as a living community with departments for education, arts, crafts, and publishing, and influences the cultural character of Puducherry through its emphasis on meditation, self-discipline, and collective work.