Perhaps, in keeping with its stillness of the mind ethos, even celebrations of special occasion at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram are relatively quiet affairs.

It is with calm and certain orderliness than pomp and splendour that the citys most famous spiritual destination observes even the handful of red letter days in its calendar and the rarer occasions when it opens its sacred rooms for thousands of devotees for darshan.

So, when the 101st anniversary of the visit of Mirra Alfassa, or The Mother, protg of Sri Aurobindo, came by on March 29, Ashramites celebrated with a session of meditation and silent prayer.

And, this happens to be a very special week for Ashramites and the legion of followers of the citys two most remarkable philosopher-seers, for it also marks the 105th anniversary of Sri Aurobindos arrival to these shores. Again, it was with quiet prayers that the Ashram observed the occasion.

It was in 1914, at the age of 36, that Mirra, accompanied by her spouse Paul Richard, embarked on two different journeys; one an exacting trip stretching over three weeks by ship, boat and train to this city, the other one of life-changing self-discovery and enlightenment that would follow her momentous meeting with Sri Aurobindo in this city.

While the centenaries of both the events one in 2010 and the other in 2014 were grand affairs with the Government and a host of organisations pitching in, since 2002, the World Peace Trust here and the Bangavani Trust based in Nabadwip Dham, West Bengal, have been celebrating the anniversaries of the both events with various programmes.

Following a special commemoration at the Puducherry railway station on March 29, the organisations led several programmes at Gandhi Thidal on Saturday to mark the 105th anniversary of Sri Aurobindos arrival.

The highlights included devotional music, meditation, dance performance and the reading out of the messages of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother.

And it is not just the inhabitants of the institutions emblematic of the visionary seers, the Ashram and Auroville which The Mother founded in 1968 as an experimental universal township that transcends creeds, nationalities and politics, who abide by their words of wisdom.

There are many people from all layers of the social spectrum who have imbued the teachings and messages of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother into their lives.

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Momentous arrivals in Puducherry and the calm celebrations