Why in News? 

• Recently, 150th birth anniversary of Aurobindo Ghosh was celebrated on 15th August.
• Along with this, to commemorate his 150th birth anniversary, the central government organized spiritual programs in 75 jails of India from August 12 to August 15, 2022. The programme will help transform the lives of prisoners by imbibing the philosophy of Aurobindo Ghosh.

 Unsung Tribal Freedom-fighter 

• The Ministry of Culture has identified 75 prisons in India while considering his participation in the Indian National Movement.
• Programs have been organized with the aim of bringing changes in lives of prisoners through practice of yoga and meditation and philosophy of Aurobindo Ghosh in these jails.
• Ministry of Culture organized this program in collaboration with spiritual leaders and organizations.
• This programme was organized in 23 states. The following organizations were involved in this-
• Patanjali
• Isha Foundation
• Satsang Foundation
• Art of Living
• Ram Krishna Mission

About Aurobindo Ghosh

• He is popularly known as 'Sage Aurobindo'. He was a revolutionary, nationalist, poet, educationist and philosopher.
• He was born on August 15, 1872. At the age of 7 he was sent to England for study.
• He died on 5 December 1950.

Contribution

• On his return to India in 1893, he was appointed as an officer in the state service.
• He also worked as a professor in Baroda College.
• He also joined a revolutionary organization and played a leading role in the covert preparation of rebellion against the British government in India.
• He actively participated in the Swadeshi movement launched against the partition of Bengal, introduced by Lord Curzon.
• Enraged by his revolutionary ideas, British government arrested him in the Alipore conspiracy case in 1908. In Alipore Jail, he gained wonderful spiritual experience about Hinduism and Hindu-nation.
• He was the first Indian political leader who publicly put forth the idea of ‘Complete Independence’ for the country in his newspaper 'Bande Mataram'.
• He was the first proposer for 'Purna Swaraj' 20 years before the declaration of the Indian National Congress in 1930.

Literary work

• He was also a journalist and his first philosophical journal was published in 1914 under the name 'Arya'.
• Apart from this, he composed many works like 'The Life Divine', 'The Synthesis of Yoga' and 'Savitri' etc.

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