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Secretary's Report 2004-05 - Cultural
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Sri Aurobindo Institute of Culture has been a centre for cultural activities since long. Artists from various disciplines have assembled at the Institute at different times to perform and to teach. A home away from home for them, they have not only enriched the lives of the people at the Institute but have come away enriched themselves. At the Institute, cultural activities are seen not only as a means of self expression but also of expressing god of life - a vibrant, colourful adoration of god.
The Institute regularly organises attractive cultural programmes. Eminent artists of Kolkata and elsewhere offer solo or group performances quite often.
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Table of Contents
Shakti Centre and Others
Our Cultural Unit, offering classes in music, dance and painting had 430 students. The dance and music classes are being conducted by well known and eminent artists. Consequent to the sad demise of Smt. Roma Mondal, Sri Ashish Bhattacharya and Smt. Promita Mullick have joined our faculty.
Language Classes
The Institute runs language classes in French and English.
The French class, continuing for over 26 years, has met with widespread acclaim. More than 15 students on average per month have attended the French classes in the last academic session.
Spoken English classes were conducted as before. An average of 20 students per month attended this class.
Yoga Classes
Yoga classes were conducted under the guidance of Mr. Universe Manotosh Roy. Enthusiasm for participation in Yogasana continues as before. The student strength in the past year has been around 35 on an average per month. Classes are held once a week (Wednesday).
Library
Sri Aurobindo Institute of Culture has a well-stocked library with books on Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. The library is functioning smoothly. Apart from the Mother and Sri Aurobindo's works, books on religion, literature, philosophy are available as background study for a better understanding of Sri Aurobindo and Mother's writings. Estimated total no. of these books is more than 8400. There is a good collection of reference books and a number of rare books. One qualified Librarian and two associates see to the efficient running of the library. We have
already computerised the whole data base and compartmentalised it. Library now remains open all days of the week from 9.00 a.m. to 7.00 p.m. except Sunday. We have started issuing our books with the help of the computer. Interaction with the members and their suggestions are taken on a regular basis.
The Library has more than 459 members on its rolls. More than 40 members visit the library daily.
Publication - Books & Journals
Basudhara has had a facelift which is widely appreciated and is now published twice a year on 15th August and 21st February.
Two important books were published by the Institute during the year. 'Sri Aurobindo Katha' is a collection of essays by Sri Amalesh Bhattacharyya comprising of different articles on Sri Aurobindo. The Institute also reprinted 'Sei Kobe' by Amrita. Both the books were released by Dr. Pratap Chandra Chunder in a special function on March 29, 2005. Sri Arabinda Basu from Pondicherry also attended the function.
ASPIRATION - Annual Cultural Programme
Sri Aurobindo Institute of Culture hosted 'ASPIRATION' - annual cultural festival. Smt. Suchitra Mitra inaugurated the celebrations and Sri Batti, Trustee, Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, Pondicherry was the Chief Guest on the occasion. The cultural programmes started with a Kathak dance by Smt. Moly Roy, Vocal Recitals were offered by Sri Pandit Arun Bhaduri, Sri Arshad Ali Khan and Sri Sandipan Samajpati and Sarod Recital was by Sri Partho Sarothy.
Darshan Celebrations
On April 24, 2004, the Mother's final arrival in Pondicherry was celebrated. There was 'Darshan Meditation' around the shrine, eminent artist Smt. Sikha Basu offered a recital of devotional songs followed by distribution of message and lunch prasad.
On 15th August, Sri Aurobindo 132nd Birth Anniversary was observed. There was 'Darshan Meditation' around the shrine, eminent artist Dr. Sarmila Bose offered devotional songs at the Hall of Light followed by distribution of message and lunch prasad. An exhibition of paintings and drawings at Galerie La Mere was inaugurated in the evening.
On 24th November 2004, Sri Aurobindo's 'Siddhi Day' was celebrated and a steady flow of devotees came to pay their respect. Darshan Meditation was arranged. Devotional songs were offered by Smt. Swastika Mukhopadhyay.
On 21st February 2005, the Mother's Birthday was celebrated. After meditation, Smt. Alpana Roy presented devotional songs.
Tagore Birthday Celebration
Rabindra Jayanti was celebrated on May 9, 2004 at 6.00 p.m. A number of eminent Rabindra Sangeet Artists performed on that auspicious evening. It was held under the direction of Smt. Roma Mondal.
Regular discourses organised by the Institute during the year
Regular classes and discourses were held.
Classes held on 'The Four Aids' by Prof. Biswanath Roy on every Friday of the month.
Dr. Sikha Mukherjee spoke on the 'Gita' on the last Saturday of the month.
Classes were held on the 'Veda' every second Saturday of almost every month by Smt. Roma Choudhury.
Important dates of the Ashram
On 4th April 2004, Sri Aurobindo's arrival at Pondicherry was celebrated. Meditation was organised around the relics.
Sri Aurobindo's Relics Installation Anniversary was observed on June 24, 2004. Solo artist, Smt. Nupurchanda Ghosh offered devotional songs.
Special Meditations were organised to celebrate Mahashtami on 21.10.04, Bijoya Dasami on 23.10.04, Laxmipuja on 27.10.04 and Kalipuja on 11.11.04.
On 17th November 2004, the Mother's withdrawal from the physical body was observed with great respect. Accordingly, Meditation was arranged in the morning.
On 5th December 2004, Sri Aurobindo's withdrawal from the physical body was observed with great respect. Special meditation was arranged around the relics.
On 9th December 2004, Sri Aurobindo's Mahasamadhi Day was observed. Meditation was arranged around the relics.
On January 01, 2005 there was a Special Meditation in the morning followed by Solo Recital by Smt. Sanjida Khatun from Bangladesh, renowned exponent of Rabindra Sangeet.
On March 29, 2005, the Mother's first arrival in Pondicherry was celebrated. Dr Pratap Chandra Chunder spoke on the Mother's first arrival in Pondicherry. Smt. Bhaswati Mukhopadhyay offered devotional songs on the occasion.
Other programmes organised by the Institute during the year
Bengali New Year's Day was celebrated on 14.4.04. Meditation was arranged around the relics (with the tape-recorded voice of Sri P.K. Bhattacharya) at 10 a.m. Smt. Pramita Mallick offered a recital on devotional songs on the occasion.
The Institute paid homage to eminent composers Atulprasad Sen, Rajanikanta Sen, Dwijendralal Roy and Dilip Kumar Roy on 05.07.04. Under the direction of Smt. Swastika Mukhopadhyay, many renowned artists offered devotional songs, on the occasion. Dr Gobinda Gopal Mukhopadhyay was the Chief Guest and Sri Dilip Roy spoke on the occasion.
110th Birth Anniversary of Srimat Anirban was observed on 9.7.04 near the relics. Smt. Bani Basu was the Chief Guest and key speaker.
A Talk on 'Jhulanpurnima' by Smt. Arundhati Roy Chowdhury was organised on 24.8.04.
On 8th September, 118th Birth Anniversary of Mahamohopadhyay Dr Gopinath Kaviraj was observed.
On 30.9.04 'Kathakata on Pitripaksha' was offered by Smt. Arundhati Roychowdhury.
A 'Special Poetry Session' of eminent poet, Sri Alok Ranjan Dasgupta was held on 1.10.04 at Hall of Light.
Kathakatha on 'Mahalaya - Debi Pranam' was held on 13.10.04 by Smt. Arundhati Roychowdhury
A Talk on 'Raspurnima' was delivered on 26.11.04 by Smt. Arundhati Roychowdhury.
A Memorial Meeting for Smt. Roma Mondal was held at Lakshmi's House on 18.12.04. Her students sang songs apart from solo recitals by Rajashree Bhattacharya, Bhaswati Mukhopadhyay and Abhirup Guha Thakurata.Sri Subhas Chowdhury spoke on the occasion.
A Talk on 'Gita Jayanti' was delivered on 5.1.05 by Smt. Arundhati Roychowdhury.
Gopinath Kaviraj Memorial lecture was delivered by Dr S.K. Chakravborty on 21.1.05.
A Talk on 'Gita Mahatmya' by Smt. Arundhati Roy Chowdhury was delivered on 11.02.05.
Galerie La Mere
One of the most attractive Art Galleries in Kolkata, 'Galerie La Mere' is so named to pay tribute to the Mother and was opened in homage to her wonderful artistic sensibilities. An eminent painter herself in the early 20th century in Paris, she belonged to the famous Impressionist School.
The art gallery situated in the premises of Sri Aurobindo Institute of Culture hosts a number of exhibitions of painting by renowned painters of Bengal, through-out the year. The gallery remains open for visitors everyday between 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Galerie La Mere hosted a number of exhibitions during this period.
La Mere Annual, 2005
La Mere Annual, 2005 was inaugurated on January 07, 2005 and continued till January 22, 2005. It is the 10th Anniversary Exhibition of Galerie La Mere which was established on this very date in the year 1995. Following artists participated in the exhibition:
Amal Chakladar, Amit Sarkar, Amitava Banerjee, Amitava Dhar, Atin Basak, B. .R.
Panesar, Biswarup Datta, Chanchal Mukehrjee, Chandra Bhattacharjee, Ditpti
Chakraborty, Goutam Basu, Goutam Chowdhury, Hiran Mitra, Isha Mohammad, Kanchan Dasgupta, Kishore Chatterjee, Krishna Bandyopadhyay, Manoj Datta, Munindra Rajbongshi, Paritosh Sen, Parthapratim Deb, Pinaki Barua, Pradip Rakhit, Rabin Mondal, Ramananda Bandyopadhyay, Ramlal Dhar, Samindrantah Majumdar, Samir Aich, Sanatan Dinda, Sanat Kar, Sekhar Roy, Sohini Dhar, Soumitra Kar, Subrato Gangopadhyay, Suhas Royand Wasim Kapoor.
Solo Exhibition of Sri Ramananda Bandyopadhyay
Solo exhibition of Sri Ramananda Bandyopadhyay was held on February 02, 2005. The exhibition is organised in the memory of Smt. Joya Mitter, Late Secretary of the Institute. The exhibition continued till February 14 2005. It was attended by many viewers.
Parama - Exhibition by Lady Artists
"Parama' - an exhibition by lady artists was inaugurated on February 21, 2005. The exhibition is organized on the Birth 'Anniversary of The Mother. The exhibition continued till March 06, 2005. Following artists participated in the exhibition :
Anita Roychowdhury, Anjali Sengupta, Arati Das, Arpita Basu, Arunima Chowdhury, Bageshree Datta, Ballari Mukherjee, Bhaswati Das, Chandrima Roy, Dipti Chakraborty, Krishna Bandyopadhyay, Madhumati Sen, Monami Chowdhury, Santosh Rohatgi, Shakila, Shanu Lahiri, Shibani Sengupta, Sheila Kapoor, Shyamshree Basu, Sohini Dhar, Sutapa Khan, Suktisubhra Pradhan, Suvomita Dinda, Tandra Chanda, Swati Mukherjee, Tapati Sarkar, Uma Siddhanta and Veena Bhargav.
Joint Exhibition with Alliance Francaise De Calcutta
An exhibition of photographs of Alain Danielou, an eminent photographer and Indophile was jointly organised with Alain Danielou Francaise de Calcutta on July 30, 2004. There were nearly thirtyfive (35) photographs on ancient Indian cultural traditions. Sri Paritosh Sen inaugurated the exhibition and Sri Ramananda Bandyopadhyay was Guest of Honour.
Freedom
A life-size bronze statue of Sri Aurobindo, sculptured by Sri Niranjan Pradhan, was installed at the Darshan Room of Sri Aurobindo Institute of Culture on 15th August 2004.
Painting Exhibition "Freedom" at Galerie La Mere started on 15th August was inaugurated by Sri Avijit Majumdar at 6 p.m. and Sri Ramananda Bandyopadhyay was Guest of Honour. The exhibition continued till 31st August 2004. The names of the contributing artists were as follows :
Amal Chakladar, Amit Sarkar, Amitava Banerjee, Amitava Dhar, Atin Basak, B. R. Paneasar, Bipin Goswami, Biswarup Datta, Chandra Bhattacharjee, Debabrata Chakraborti, Goutam Chowdhury, Hiran Mitra Isha Mohammed, Koshore Chatterjee, Krishna Bandyopadhyay, Manoj Mitra, Niranjan Pradhan, Noor Ali, Paritosh Sen, Parthapratim Deb, Rabin Mondal, Ramananda Bandyopadhyay, Ramlal Dhar, Ritendra Roy, Sanatan Dinda, Shyamal Datta Roy, Sohini Dhar, Suvomita Dinda, Suhas Roy, Suktisubhra Pradhan, Tapan Mitra, Tapan Ghosh and Wasim Kapoor
Durga 2004
The exhibition was inaugurated on October 13, 2004 and continued till
November 06, 2004. Janab Tohid Hossain, Deputy High Commissioner of
Bangladesh High Commission, inaugurated the exhibition. Following
artists participated in the exhibition.
Amal Chakladar, Amit Sarkar, Amitava Banerjee, Arunima Chowdhury,
Bageshree Datta, Bijoy Chakraborty, Biswarup Datta, Chanchal
Mukherjee, Chandra Bhattacharjee, Debabrata Chakraborty, Dipti
Chakraborty, Isha Mohammad, Krishna Bandyopadhyay, Manoj Mitra, Manoj Datta, Narayan chandra Sinha, Panchugopal Datta, Rabin Mondal,
Ramananda Bandyopadhyay, Samir Aich, Sanatan Dinda, Sekhar Roy,
Shanu Lakiri, Suktisubhra Pradhan, Uma Siddhanta, Suvomita Dinda,
Shyamal Datta Roy, Tapan Ghosh and Wasim Kapoor.
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