The devotees also sat in meditation before the samadhis of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo at the ashram on the occasion, observed as her 'Maha Samadhi Day', ashram sources said.

They also paid homage to the relics of The Mother kept in her room in the ashram where she had carried on her spiritual experiments before passing away on November 17, 1973 aged 95.

The Mother, born in France and named Mirra Alfasa, had met Aurobindo here in 1914 and at once recognised him as the one who for many years had inwardly guided her spiritual development.

When the Sri Aurobindo Ashram was formed in November 1926, Sri Aurobindo entrusted its full material and spiritual charge to the Mother.

She was chiefly instrumental in establishing the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education in 1952 and the Auroville International township near here in 1968.