Location: This is the house that you first see as you enter the main gate of the Ashram main building. It is located at the south-west part of the Ashram.
Siginificance: In this house Sri Aurobindo and the Mother lived from 1922 till 1927. Sri Aurobindo's room was
on the first floor, on the south-east corner. The Mother's room was on the same floor
and looked to north.
Name: The house was named so because of a library on its ground floor.
It had a big gate with a canopy of creepers and an imposing and attractive frontage. On entering, first came a small garden abutting a verandah; on one side of the verandah was a door leading to the back of the house and, on the other side, a staircase going up to the verandah on the first-floor. At the entrance of this verandah were Datta's two small rooms. Then came the Mother's two rooms along the entire length of the verandah. On the south-east corner was Sri Aurobindo's room. On the north-east corner were the bathroom and a staircase for coming down. This was the layout of the first floor of the Library House.
In the room just below Sri Aurobindo's room, lived Amrita on the ground floor
– it has now become the Library. On the west of it was Nolini's room facing the gate; later the Mother used to distribute here vegetable soup as ‘Prasad’ at night. Next to it was a narrow passage going towards the inner garden on the north where a wooden staircase led to Datta's two rooms on the first floor. Under this staircase, adjoining the building and yet separate, was my room. In this garden, I had planted twenty to twenty-five banana and papaya trees and there used to be sometimes so many papayas that we used to get thirty to forty of them daily for a month.
Sri Aurobindo used to see people in the morning in the verandah upstairs. At that time it was an open verandah, covered on three sides (east, west and south) with big curtains; the windows you now see on these sides were put in much later.
The construction of what is now the ground floor of the Cold Storage block including its machine room was begun after demolishing the old Dining Room. It joins the Prosperity Office to the north and the main building of the Library House to the south.
Renting of the Library house. Prepaying for the rent of the Library house and its preparing.
Sri Aurobindo paid Rs. 300 on 18 May 1922 as advance to Abdoul Aziz Khan, the previous owner of the Library House, on the condition that a list often repairs would be carried out to the house. The monthly rent was fixed at Rs 100, which was very high for Pondicherry in those days.
A letter of Barin Ghose Circa 18 May 1922
A great change was impending all unknown to us. The first seed of the future Ashram was going to be sown. One day I casually heard that a fine house was to be had in Rue de la Marine for rent situated very near our own. It belonged to a Mahomedan official of the French Govt and at that time it was tenanted by a mistress of a brother of a certain Raja in Madras Presidency. The landlord wanted to get rid of her. I casually consulted Sri Aurobindo about taking the house on rent.... Sri Aurobindo took me apart a day or two later and told me that this new house must be taken soon as it meant much to our Yoga. They had seen that the new house was very auspicious and it was destined to play a great part in our spiritual activities in future.
I went to the owner and he demanded Rs. 100 as rent – an unusually big sum in Pondicherry. Sri Aurobindo said money did not count as it was essential that we had the house soon. So a suit of ejection was started and it took three to four months to get the house vacant for our inspection.
Three to four months elapsed before the old tenant could be ejected and the necessary repairs done. Sixty more rupees were paid for the installation of a new water pipe.
The Mother's Account of Expenses for moving to the Library House5
Abdoul Aziz Khan informed Sri Aurobindo that he could “occupy the building on Wednesday next, 25 October 1922”.
Letter from the landlord to Sri Aurobindo
Monsieur Aurobindo Ghose Pondichéry, le 22 Octobre 1922
Monsieur,
Comme il reste encore quelques petites réparations à faire dans la maison j'ai l'honneur de vous faire connaître que vous pouvez prendre possession de l'immeuble le mercredi prochain, 25 Octobre 1922.
Veuillez agréer, Monsieur, l'hommage de mes sentiments respectueux.
Mr. Aurobindo Ghose. Pondicherry, the 22nd of October 1922
Sir,
As there are still a few minor repairs to be done in the house, I have the honour of informing you that you can occupy the building on Wednesday next, 25 October 1922.
Sir, please accept the homage of my respectful sentiments.
Abdoul Aziz Khan
1922.11.16 The first rental
receipt for the Library House
The first rental receipt of Rs. 20 for the last six days of October 1922 confirms that Sri Aurobindo and the Mother did move in on that day.
Earliest Rental Receipt
Reçu de M. Aurobindo Ghose la somme de vingt (20) roupies, loyer échu du 25 au dernier octobre 1922, soit pour 6 jours.
1922
– 1929
1922
– 1929
1922
– 1929
1949
After 1958
1935
1947
– 1948
1948
16 January 2006
1932
– 1934
1932
– 1934
16 January 2006
16 January 2006
1931
Circa September 1929
1926
– 1929
