116th Anniversary of Sri Aurobindo’s Auspicious Arrival at Chuchura (West Bengal)

Various programs have been organized on September 4, 5 and 6, 2025 to mark the 116th anniversary of Sri Aurobindo’s auspicious arrival at Chuchura in September 1909. I look forward to your presence at these programs.

Programme

I. Thursday, September 4, 2025

Time: 5:30 PM
Venue: Rabindra Bhavan, Chinsurah, Hooghly

Chorus: Performance by: ‘Shilpapath’,
Conducted by: Smt. Archana Bhattacharya.

Recitation: Smt. Upasana Mukhopadhyay

Speech: Sri Aurobindo and Freedom Movement of India
Speaker: Sri Tarun Goswami
Famed Press Reporter and Coordinating Editor of the Statesman.

Song: Shabnam Meghal (Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan)
Accompaniment: Sri Bishwanath Halder & Sri Purna Chandra Bandyopadhyay.

Musical Chorus: ‘Adyashakti O Bhaktimala’.
Performed by: ‘Runner’ Kalasmithi
Directed by Smt. Krishna Sinha And Sri Ranen Sinha.

‘Sri Aurobindo Charan Tirtha’ will remain open from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM to facilitate offering Pranams.

II. Friday, September 5, 2025

Time: 5:30 PM
Venue: Sri Aurobindo Bhavan, Janda Daspara, Hooghly

Readings from ‘Savitri’

Chorus: Presented by ‘Shilpapath’ Conducted by Smt. Rita Biswas

Recitation: Smt. Pronami Basak

Speech: Sri Aurobindo’s Yoga and Practice Speaker: Sri Abhas Narayan Biswas

Song: Sri Rajiv Chakraborty
Accompaniment: Sri Bishwanath Halder and Sri Purna Chandra Bandyopadhyay

III. Saturday, September 6, 2025

Time: 2:30 PM
Venue: Sri Aurobindo Bhavan, Janda Daspara, Hooghly

Relevant Speeches and Devotional Songs

Time: 3:50 PM to 4:10 PM
Meditation in commemoration of the Holy Moments of the enshrinement of the sacred Relics of Sri Aurobindo in the Bhavan in 1989.

Time: 6:00 PM
Classical Instrumental Music Concert
Sarod Recital: Artist Sri Deeptanil Bhattacharya
Tabla: by Sri Shankar Prasad Chowdhury

About Sri Aurobindo’s Arrival at Chuchura:

Sri Aurobindo came to Chuchura town in Hooghly in September 1909 to attend the session of the Provincial Association.

The Hooghly session witnessed Aurobindo Ghosh, ‘a dangerous man’ for the British rule in India. This was his last participation in the biggest political conference before entering the ‘cave of penance’ in Pondicherry to prepare for the difficult task of leading humanity to divine life. This session saw Sri Aurobindo with practical intelligence, knew Sri Aurobindo striving for unity, felt Sri Aurobindo the yogi in action. He aimed to make the dream of divine life a reality on this harsh earth, with a fixed eye on the goal he would leave his beloved Bengal, and a few months later; the spiritual power that underpinned that goal was found on this political stage under his leadership.
Chuchura, in his life in this city, where the ‘leader of the country’ who is the future ‘guru of the world’ is chanting ‘… hear me in perfect silence’.

All these factors combined make His short stay in Chuchura on the occasion of the Hooghly Session a special chapter in the history of Sri Aurobindo’s life.

The uninterrupted practice of Sri Aurobindo since his inception is the result of today’s Sri Aurobindo Bhavan. This is where Sri Aurobindo’s remains were first interred in Hooghly district on 6 September 1989. Various efforts are being made to put his educational philosophy into practice at the Sri Aurobindo Shiksha Kendra in Mogalpura Lane. In memory of his stay at the historic Dutchvila in Chuchura, Sri Aurobindo Charan Tirtha has been built. This is the current course of action of Sri Aurobindo Bhavan.