Photographs of Auroville Inauguration Ceremony

Dear Friends,

Today we have published a set of photographs of the inauguration ceremony of Auroville which took place on 28 February 1968.

We are thankful to Ms. Gauri Pinto of Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry, for sharing these photographs with us and also allowing us to publish them in the forum of Overman Foundation.

With warm regards,

Anurag Banerjee

Founder,

Overman Foundation.

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                 The Urn with soil from 124 countries and 23 Indian states.

 

The Charter of Auroville written by the Mother and the soil of the Samadhi being taken to the Urn by Kiran and Vijay Poddar.

                                K. Amrita reading out the Charter in Tamil.

 

 

                Udar Pinto and Roger Anger preparing for the inauguration.

 

 

 

 

 

Fabienne and Kalya (the Mother’s great-grandchildren) placing the soil of Auroville in the Urn.

 

 

 

 

       Nolini Kanta Gupta and his eldest son Samir Kanta Gupta sealing the Urn.

 

 

 

                             Udar Pinto with the General Secretary of UNESCO.

 

 

 

14 Replies to “Photographs of Auroville Inauguration Ceremony

  1. Ma
    Dear Anuragji,
    Thank you for the Photos.
    By Her Grace I was present on this occassion.Remembering the sweet atmosphere and lunch was khechuri and achara in a yellow bag. The atmosphere was grave when The Mother Herself
    declared in own voice thecharterof Auroville.
    Perhaps the gathering were ten thousands.
    Affectionately
    Gadadhar Mishra

  2. exellant photos. wejust remember what were the aims of the mother to unify this world. iam sure it will materialise for a divine life on earth

    1. Dear Babu-da,

      It’s simply fantastic! I saw nothing at first, even after a few minutes of trying. Then I prayed to the Mother with closed eyes. When I opened my eyes again I saw her image looking down on the urn as you said. Thank you!

      I send you my pronam,
      Arindam (your former student)

  3. Dear Anurag,
    Please take a good look at the 9th photograph. Concentrate on the Banyan Tree behind and above the Urn, a little to the left. You will see Mother’s face with her hair covered by a dark scarf looking at the Urn from above. This photo had appeared, I think, in the Indian Express of 29th Feb. 1968. When Mother’s attention was drawn to it, she is reported to have said, “I was there”.
    With love and best wishes,
    Babu-da

  4. Dear Babu-da,

    Thank you so much for pointing out the Mother’s image in the branches of the Banyan Tree. What a revelation it was!

    With warm regards,

    Anurag

  5. Many thanks from Auroville, Gauri Pinto and Anurag, for this wonderful banquet of the Auroville inauguration pictures. They are, as Murali Sivaramakrishnan puts it, “great mementos”.

    For the sake of precision, one clarification:

    “The Urn with soil from 124 countries and 23 Indian states.”

    I would put it as “The Urn representing soil of 124 countries and 23 Indian states”. This is so because soil and representatives from some of countries could not come. As a solution, the Mother advised to bring soil from the sea beach nearby and regard it a soil representing those countries (since sea, in a way, serves as universal link between continents and countries). As for representatives of such countries (who could not sent representatives), teenagers from the Ashram school were chosen, perhaps by the Mother herself, to represent those countries. I have met former students of the Ashram schools who told me that they had represented this or that country during the Auroville inauguration ceremony.

    Secondly, the Mother’s appearance with a scarf on the head in the 9th photo as pointed out by Balu-da is, in my view, perceived on the left hand side of balloon in the sky.

    ..am posting the link on the Auroville Intranet for the fellow Aurovilians.

  6. Bonjour, mes parents étaient présents lors de l’inauguration d’Auroville; j’étais petite fille j’avais 8ans et nous fréquentions l’Ashram de Douce Mère et Sri Aurobindo; ma maman s’appellait Marie Janssens et nous avons gardé au fond de nos coeurs beaucoup d’amour pour cette période de notre vie et Mère était le guide de ma maman qui est paritie en mars cette année; pour ma part, le souvenir de Udar me touche particulièrement; quel bonheur de le revoir en photo ; merci

  7. soil was put only from a few countries, Mother said salt is universal ,common to all oceans and that is the reason , salt , not sand from sea was put, thanks for the treat Anurag.

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