Sri Aurobindo on Rabindranath Tagore: ‘Tagore has been a wayfarer towards same goal of ours in his own way.’- Sri Aurobindo
Rabindranath Tagore on Sri Aurobindo: In 1907 Tagore wrote his reverential poem ‘Namaskar’ as his homage offered to Sri Aurobindo
On the occasion of the 150th Birth anniversary of Sri Aurobindo and the 95th anniversary of the arrival of Kaviguru Rabindranath Tagore in Puducherry, The Bangavani Trust, Sri Aurobindo Mandir, Nabadwip Dham & World Peace Trust, Pondicherry in collaboration with AuroBharati, Sri Aurobindo Society, Puducherry organized a special event at Sri Aurobindo Society, Puducherry on 29th May, 2023. Smt. Divya Goswami, Joint Secretary, Bangavani Trust, Sri Aurobindo Mandir, Nabadwip gave an introduction of the program. Dr. Kishor Kumar Tripathy, Member Secretary, AuroBharati, Sri Aurobindo Society, Puducherry presented the welcome speech. On this occasion, special addresses were presented by Shri Pradeep Narang, Chairman, Sri Aurobindo Society, Puducherry, Shri K. Lakshminarayanan, President, World Peace Trust & Hon’ble Minister of Tourism, Government of Puducherry, Shri. Embalam Selvam, Speaker, Puducherry Assembly, and Shri Dibyendu Goswami, Secretary, Bangavani Trust. Rabindra Sangeet, recitation of the selected poems of Sri Aurobindo, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore and Mahakavi Subramania Bharati and Dance performance by Smt. Arushi Das was a significant aspect of the program. On this occasion, an exhibition comprising rare photographs and writings related to Sri Aurobindo and Gurudev Tagore was also organized.
Dr. Kishor Kumar Tripathy, Member Secretary, AuroBharati, Sri Aurobindo Society, Puducherry presented the welcome address and said about the significance of the meeting between Sri Aurobindo and Gurudev Tagore. He mentioned the thought of Gurudev Tagore ‘I felt that the utterance of the ancient Hindu Rishi spoke from him of that equanimity which gives the human soul its freedom of entrance into the All.’ He also highlighted the views of Sri Aurobindo on the writing of Gurudev Tagore including ‘As you say, there is a truth behind Tagore's statement. There is such a thing as a universal
Ananda and a universal beauty and the vision of it comes from an intensity of sight which sees what is hidden and more than the form—it is a sort of viśvarasa such as the Universal Spirit may have had in creating things. (The Future Poetry). The influence of Gurudev Tagore on Mahakavi Subramania Bharati and Tagore in Japan was part of his presentation. The unique synthesis of the ideas between Sri Aurobindo and Gurudev Tagore including Divine life, the renaissance of Indian culture, nationalism, and universalism were presented at the occasion.
Shri Pradeep Narang, Chairman, Sri Aurobindo Society, Puducherry highlighted the significance of the meeting between Sri Aurobindo and Gurudev Tagore which made a change in the history of the freedom movement of India. He spoke about the realization of Gurudev Taogore on Sri Aurobindo “You have the Word and we are waiting to accept it from you. India will Years ago I saw Aurobindo in the atmosphere of his earlier heroic youth and I sang to him.’ He said that Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore was really a remarkable person, a great poet, a writer, and a great personality.
Shri K. Lakshminarayanan, President, World Peace Trust & Hon’ble Minister of Tourism, Government of Puducherry said that the visit of Gurudev Tagore was an important event for the land of Puducherry. Eminent spiritual leaders Swami Vivekanand and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu visited this land which further created a strong connection between West Bengal and Puducherry. Godly words are given by great souls to enrich humanity through the ages. He emphasized the connection between Sri Aurobindo, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore and Mahakavi Subramani Bharati and their words are still enlightening humanity through the ages. He said that Puducherry is a sacred land that is enriched with spiritual and cultural heritage. The Hon'ble Minister also highlighted the ideas of Divine life, Universalism and Nationalism by Sri Aurobindo, Gurudev Tagore and Mahakavi Subramania Bharati on the common goal of humanity.
Guest of honour Shri. Embalam Selvam, Speaker, Puducherry Assembly thanked everyone on behalf of the Government of Puducherry for hosting the annual event of Sri Aurobindo’s arrival on 4th April and the anniversary of the arrival of Sri Gurudev Tagore on 29th May. He said that even though Pondicherry was under French control, many freedom fighters discussed with Sri Aurobindo the freedom movement and helped the nation to get freedom. Mahakavi Bharathiar also had close contact with Sri Aurobindo and was involved in the freedom movement as well as he had written many patriotic poems. He said that because of Sri Aurobindo, Pondicherry is very peaceful even the French Culture is there,
and many people are following the teachings and life of Sri Aurobindo. Hon’ble speaker also said about the contribution of the freedom fighters of Pondicherry to bring freedom for this land. He said about the arrival of Gurudev Tagore in Pondicherry as there was no jetty at the time, Tagore was lowered onto a small boat in a stool placed inside a cut-out wooden barrel and taken to land. The meeting between Sri Aurobindo and Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore was a historic moment.
On this occasion, a ‘Poetry Recitation session’ included recitation ‘Namaskar’ in Bengali by Smt. Polly Mukhopadhyay, ‘Namaskar’ in English by Smt. Divya Goswami, Rabindra Sangeet ‘Ekla Chalore’ by Smt. Lakshmi Santra, Ekla Chalore, Tagore’s poem English Translation by Smt. Indira Gandhi, Recitation by Smt. Charu Tripathy, Sri Aurobindo’s poem ‘Ashphut’ in Bengali by Shri Sushanto, Sri Aurobindo’s poem ‘The Divine Worker’ by Gayatri Majumdar, Selected verses from ‘Tirukkural’ with English Translation by Sri Aurobindo, Recitation by Kalaimamani Thiru P. Boopathi, Mahakavi Subramania Bharati’s poem ‘Vande Mataram Yenbom’ by Kalaimamani Dr. D. Thiruvalavan were the main attraction of the poetry recitation session.
On the occasion of the celebration of the 150th Birth anniversary of Sri Aurobindo and the 95th anniversary of the arrival of Kaviguru Rabindranath Tagore in Puducherry, Shri Dibyendu Goswami, Secretary, Bangavani Trust said that Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, a poet, novelist, playwright, story-writer, essayist, travelogue, composer, painter and educationist, who enriched Indian art, culture and literature in an integral manner. He highlighted the meeting between Sri Aurobindo and Gurudev Tagore which was a significant event in the history of India.
On the occasion, a cultural program was organized based on the Rabindra Sangeet- by Smt. Laksmi Santra and Dance performance by Smt. Arushi Das. This event was organized by The Bangavani Trust, Sri Aurobindo Mandir, Nabadwip Dham & World Peace Trust, Pondicherry collaboration with AuroBharati, Sri Aurobindo Society, Puducherry on 29th May, 2023 at Sri Aurobindo Society, Puducherry.
