Shrimat Anirvan (8 July 1896—31 May 1978) had mastered the Astādhyayi of Pānini at a very early age. After completing his formal education he renounced the world and joined the Kokilamukh Ashram at Jorhat (in Assam) founded by his Guru Swami Nigamananda Paramahamsa where he was given Sannyasa and he became Nirvanananda Saraswati. But after a few years he dropped the ochre robes and changed his name to Anirvan by which he became known to the world at large. He spent a number of years in Lohaghat (Almora) where Madame Lizelle Reymond, a Swiss spiritual seeker, joined him and literally took him to the West through her books My Life with a Brahmin Family and To Live Within. He later shifted to Shillong in Assam and finally to Kolkata where he spent his last years. His first book was a Bengali translation of Sri Aurobindo’s The Life Divine which was described as a “living translation” by Sri Aurobindo himself and was published in two volumes between 1948 and 1951. Another sister-publication, Yoga-Samanvaya-Prasanga, based on Sri Aurobindo’s The Synthesis of Yoga, was published in 1961. According to Ram Swarup: “In translating Sri Aurobindo’s works, he was paying his debt to an elder brother and old friend from another life, as Shri Anirvan once said.” But the centre of his studies was the Vedas on which he acquired a rare mastery over the years. His other published works include his magnum opus, Veda Mimāmsā, (published in three volumes), Upanisad-Prasanga (eight volumes), Gitānuvacana (three volumes), Vedānta Jijñāsā and Pravacana (four volumes) to name a few.
On the occasion of Shrimat Anirvan’s 119th Birth Anniversary, Overman Foundation started the inaugural “Shrimat Anirvan Memorial Oration” from 2015. The list and biographies of the speakers are as follows:
2023
Speaker: Dr. Rajib Chakraborty; a linguist at Society for Natural Language Technology Research, he is a former Assistant Professor at Visva-Bharati University and Linguist at Ministry of Information and Technology, Dr. Chakraborty is a reputed scholar, avid collector of rare books and gramophone records and also serves ‘Srinvantu’, the oldest monthly Bengali journal devoted to the teachings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, as its Editor.
Theme: The Gita and the Bhagawat in the Light of Anirvan
Chairman: Shri Goutam Banerji
Chief Guest: Shri Biswajit Gangopadhyay
Venue: Sri Aurobindo Bhavan, 8 Shakespeare Sarani, Kolkata 700071.
Date: Friday, 14 July 2023.
2022
Speaker: Shri Abhas Narayan Biswas, noted speaker and exponent of Aurobindonian philosophy.
Theme: Shrimat Anirvan’s Contribution to Bengali Literature.
Chairman: Dr. Rajib Chakraborty.
Chief Guest: Shri Biswajit Gangopadhyay.
Venue: Sri Aurobindo Bhavan, 8 Shakespeare Sarani, Kolkata 700071.
Date: Friday, 8 July 2022.
2021
The 125th Birth Anniversary year of Shrimat Anirvan was commemorated in two parts virtually due to the then prevalent Covid-19 pandemic. The first part, which was aired live in Youtube on 8th July 2021, included an introductory speech by Shri Anurag Banerjee, Founder and Director of Overman Foundation, a short message read out by Ms. Bratati Mukhopadhyay (an authority on the writings of Shrimat Anirvan) and the sixth ‘Shrimat Anirvan Memorial Oration’ delivered by Shri Abhas Narayan Biswas, noted Aurobindonian scholar, on the theme “Chirobondhu Chironirbhoro”. A special feature of this Memorial Oration was a discourse in Bengali in the voice of Shrimat Anirvan.
To listen to the sixth ‘Shrimat Anirvan Memorial Oration’, kindly click on the following link:
The second and concluding part of the 125th Birth Anniversary of Shrimat Anirvan was also aired live in Youtube on 9th July 2021 and included a special discourse by Shri Goutam Banerji, noted speaker and exponent of Aurobindonian philosophy, on the theme: “Kobi Anirvan” (Anirvan: The Poet). A special feature of this Memorial Oration was another discourse in Bengali in the voice of Shrimat Anirvan.
To listen to the concluding part of the sixth ‘Shrimat Anirvan Memorial Oration’, kindly click on the following link:
2019
Speaker: President of Sri Aurobindo Pathamandir, the first public institute outside Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry, devoted to the study and practice of the teachings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Prof. Biswanath Roy had taught at various colleges before retiring from Dinabandhu Andrews College. One of the best speakers on Aurobindonian Philosophy, he is also a prolific researcher and author who writes under the pen-name of Trija Roy. His published works in Bengali include titles like Bakta Sri Aurobindo, Sri Aurobindo-er Karakahini Prasange, Sri Aurobindo: Bangaparba—Kichu Katha, Kichu Asha, Sri Aurobindo Sampadito Arya Prasange, Durga Stotra Prasange, Sri Aurobindo O Chandernagore, Kolkataye Sri Aurobindo-er Sesh Abash, Sri Aurobindo-er Pondicherry Yatra, Sri Aurobindo Pathamandir and Swagata Sri Aurobindo to name a few. In 2004 he was presented with the prestigious ‘Sri Aurobindo Puraskar’ by Sri Aurobindo Bhavan, Kolkata.
Theme: Shrimat Anirvan on Sri Aurobindo and the Mother
Chairman: Prof. Supriyo Bhattacharya
Chief Guest: Shri Biswajit Ganguly
Venue: Sri Aurobindo Bhavan, 8 Shakespeare Sarani, Kolkata 700071
Date: Monday, 8 July 2019
2018
Speaker: Dr. Soumitro Basu, renowned psychiatrist, Editor of NAMAH, one of the founders of Sri Aurobindo International Institute of Integral Health and Research (SAIIHR), Director of Institute of Integral Yoga Psychology (Auroshakti Foundation) and Secretary, Miravision Trust.
Theme: Shrimat Anirvan on Death
Chairman: Prof. Supriyo Bhattacharya
Chief Guest: Shri Biswajit Ganguly
Venue: Sri Aurobindo Bhavan, 8 Shakespeare Sarani, Kolkata 700071
Date: Saturday, 7 July 2018
2017
Speaker: Shri Goutam Banerji, noted speaker and exponent of Aurobindonian philosophy.
Theme: Shrimat Anirvan: Individual and Individuality.
Chairman: Prof. Supriyo Bhattacharya.
Guest Speaker: Shri Biswajit Gangopadhyay.
Venue: Sri Aurobindo Bhavan, 8 Shakespeare Sarani, Kolkata 700071.
Date: Saturday, 8 July 2017.
2016
Speaker: Shri Biswajit Gangopadhyay, OSD and Ex-officio Secretary, Finance Department, Government of West Bengal and Managing Member of Sri Aurobindo Bhavan, Kolkata.
Theme: Shrimat Anirvan and Dilip Kumar Roy.
Chairman: Prof. Supriyo Bhattacharya.
Venue: Sri Aurobindo Bhavan, 8 Shakespeare Sarani, Kolkata 700071.
Date: Friday, 8 July 2016.
2015
Speaker: Prof. Supriyo Bhattacharya is presently Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Kalyani. He has been on its teaching faculty since 1984. He was a former Guest-Lecturer in the Department of Post Graduation Business Studies in the Department of Commerce of the University of Calcutta for over two decades since 1981. He also served as a Lecturer in the Department of Economics at Belur Vidyamandir, Howrah. He is engaged in studies on Sri Aurobindo, Rabindranath Tagore and Shrimat Anirvan and has been connected with research work in various projects associated with Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy in Kolkata and at Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry, gives talks and writes on different aspects of Sri Aurobindo’s vision. A recipient of the prestigious “Sri Aurobindo Puraskar” from Sri Aurobindo Bhavan, Kolkata, he was elected Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland in June 2007. He has been the Editor of Srinvantu (a Bengali and English magazine devoted to the cause of propagation of the ideas of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother).
Theme of Oration: Shrimat Anirvan on Education.
Venue: Sri Aurobindo Sakti Centre, 532, Block “M”, New Alipore, Kolkata 700053.
Date: Wednesday, 8 July 2015.