The Sri Aurobindo Ashram is a spiritual community located in Puducherry (formerly Pondicherry), India. It grew out of the circle of disciples that gathered around the Indian philosopher and yogi Sri Aurobindo after he settled in the then French territory of Pondicherry in 1910. The ashram was formally established on 24 November 1926, when Sri Aurobindo withdrew into seclusion and entrusted the organisation and spiritual guidance of the community to Mirra Alfassa, known to the disciples as the Mother.
| Key facts | |
|---|---|
| Type | Spiritual community (ashram) |
| Founder | Sri Aurobindo |
| Co-founder and organiser | Mirra Alfassa (the Mother) |
| Founded | 24 November 1926 |
| Location | Puducherry, India |
| Tradition | Integral Yoga |
| Associated township | Auroville |
Sri Aurobindo, born Aurobindo Ghose in 1872, was a leader in the early Indian nationalist movement before turning fully to spiritual practice. After his trial and acquittal in the Alipore Bomb Case, he moved first to Chandernagore and then, in April 1910, to Pondicherry, which was under French administration and outside the reach of the British Indian authorities. There he developed the system of practice he termed the Integral Yoga, aimed at the transformation of human life through the descent of what he called the supramental consciousness.
Mirra Alfassa, born in Paris in 1878, first met Sri Aurobindo in 1914. After a period in Japan during the First World War, she returned to Pondicherry in 1920 and progressively took charge of the practical life of the small group of sadhaks living around Sri Aurobindo.
The ashram is administered by the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, established by the Mother. Unlike traditional monastic orders, members do not take formal vows and engage in a wide range of work as part of their sadhana, including farming, weaving, printing, publishing, handmade paper, perfumery, dairy, and other small industries. The ashram operates departments dedicated to these activities and uses them as a setting for the practice of Integral Yoga.
The community is spread across several buildings in central Puducherry rather than confined to a single enclosed campus. The main ashram building, on Rue de la Marine, contains the samadhi of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, which is a focal point for visitors and disciples.
The Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education offers instruction from kindergarten to higher levels, drawing on the Mother's principles of integral education. The Sri Aurobindo Ashram Press publishes the works of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother in multiple languages, including the Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo and the Collected Works of the Mother. The ashram also maintains archives, a library, and a research department.
The ashram is considered one of the most influential modern centres of Indian spiritual thought, both for its role in propagating Sri Aurobindo's writings—such as The Life Divine, The Synthesis of Yoga, Essays on the Gita, and the epic poem Savitri—and for the wider Aurobindonian movement, which includes Auroville, Sri Aurobindo Society branches, and affiliated centres across India and abroad. It has also played a part in shaping modern Puducherry's cultural and educational landscape.