Pramod Kumar Chatterjee’s portrait of Sri Aurobindo

Dear Friends,

Pramod Kumar Chatterjee (1885—1979) was an author, painter and traveller who travelled extensively to meet enlightened yogis and ascetics. He was the Principal of the Baroda School of Arts and established the National Art Gallery at Masilipattanam in Andhra Pradesh and served the organization as its President. He is best known for his renowned book Tantrabhilasir Sadhusanga written in three volumes. He became an inmate of Sri Aurobindo Ashram in 1958 and was one of the very few who saw a vision of Supramental Consciousness in the form of a winged bird. His portraits of Sri Aurobindo were highly praised by the Mother.

A portrait of Sri Aurobindo made by Pramod Kumar Chatterjee has been uploaded in the online forum of Overman Foundation.

With warm regards,

Anurag Banerjee

Founder,

Overman Foundation.

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PKC portrait

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14 Replies to “Pramod Kumar Chatterjee’s portrait of Sri Aurobindo

  1. Was this man the author of “Whom God Protects”?
    I have read the book twice. Once in the library of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. That was nearly twenty years ago. I met one of his relations, who at that time was an inmate of the ashram. I don’t remember his name. At that time, he was attending the gate of the main ashram building. I visited his room. He painted flowers on cloth. I asked about acquiring a copy of the book, but he was unwilling. Instead, he gave me a gift of a book with quotes from Sri Aurobindo for every day of the year.

    I’m wondering if you might know how I could read that book again.

    Thank you. I look forward to exploring the links on this site.

    1. Yes, he was the same person. The Bengali version of the book you have referred is still available but I am not sure about the English version. If you want, I can try to collect a photo-copy of the book for you.

      With warm regards,
      Anurag Banerjee

  2. Gurudas Banerji, grandson of the artist is the person you are referring to at ashram gate , a former student of ashram school , works at gate and samadhi, he is the one who had translated parts of Tantrabilashir Sadhusanga into english for Mother India …

  3. one of the most unusual paintings he made was of a entity he saw when a very major lightning strike took place during a storm in pondicherry in the 60’s, painting was shown to the Mother and She confirmed it.

  4. he’s fine , studied , economics and many other subjects in college , brilliant student, good sportsman when younger, have done decathlon with him in 1974, most regular in his work and life..

    1. Thank you for taking the time to continue the conversation and to paint a few more details of his life. When my wife and I visited the Ashram (for a few months on each of two separate occasions in ’97 and ’98) we never had more than short interactions with any of the sadhaks. People were involved in their work, and I felt shy to disturb them. That period stands out vividly in my memory, and I’m happy to have a few more details.

      Maybe the comment section of a blog is not the best place for a conversation. If you’d like to continue my email is ray_molacha(at)gmx(dot)co(dot)uk

  5. Beni,
    I am a grandson of Pramod Kumar Chattopadhyay and came across this site while searching his name. I was pleasantly surprised to see Dhiraj’s name, a cousin of mine. We called him Gurudas-da. Is it possible to get his contact information so I can get in touch with him? He would know me as Dunai, son of Kanika-mashi. Following is my information –
    Soumitra Banerjee
    dunsban@gmail.com
    +1 (804) 519-2331.

    I would appreciate your help.
    Regards,
    Soumitra

  6. from Nirodbaran talks in SAICE 2012 ed.p24…”The second record in my notebook, dated 1.10.59 is about our octogenarian artist, Promod Kumar Chatterji. He was, as you know, Jayantilal’s and Krishnalal’s46 art teacher. Once, in 1959, he painted a portrait of Sri Aurobindo. He is more known as a writer than as a painter. There are stories of his travels and experiences in the north, his contact with the tantric47 sadhus, etc. – he’s a venerable old summer oak. He came to show the painting to the Mother and luckily we too were there. Mother was standing near Her chair, the artist was on the carpet and the portrait was resting on an easel. Addressing Jayantilal, She said, “Just change the angle of the painting so that I can have a clear view. Then I must sit down.” She sat down with a smile and said, “I’ve no standard to judge it.” Then, with Her Lakshmi smile, she said, “There’s spontaneity there. You’ve caught something of the spontaneity and freshness of nature and something candid with which He came into this world. His inner being was on the surface; He knew nothing of this world.”

  7. Hi again, beni — after much time.
    I received a notification that there was a post in this thread. It was nice to re-read the comments. Thank you for taking the time to post a note.

    I am still, after all these years, interested in re-reading “Whom God Protects”. I still search for it in the various online archives.

    Would you happen to know which issues of Mother India had Dhiraj’s translations of parts of Tantrabilashir Sadhusanga into english?

    Best wishes.

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