Some time ago, Auroville International announced a project to undertake a live reading of Savitri to celebrate the 50th anniversay of Auroville. The idea was to create a chain of readers around the world, starting in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram and culminating in Auroville. The reading will take place between the 19th – 21th February, 2018.
The idea is to use recordings prepared in advance and supplied by the participants. The technical team has edited all these individual recordings into a film of about 35 hours duration.
It is intended that the film will be broadcast on YouTube for viewing worldwide on February 19th to 21st 2018, as well as being displayed on the big screen at Savitri Bhavan.
The full text of Savitri has been divided up into 325 passages of around two pages each, so, ideally, 325 readers are participating.
The final plan of the reading is as follows:
Savitri around the World
Complete continuous reading of the text
of Sri Aurobindo’s revelatory epic Savitri : a legend and a symbol, by 471 readers representing 99
locations around the globe, starting in India at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, then
moving around the country before travelling through countries in Central and
Western Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas, Oceania, East and South East Asia,
before returning to India and ending in Auroville. This filmed parayan, lasting about 35 hours, will be
screened in Savitri Bhavan from 3am IST
on Monday 19.02.2018. Everyone is welcome
to drop in and enjoy the readings at their convenience until the sequence comes
to an end on 21.02.2018. It
can also be viewed on the internet from that time onwards at
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVEFxAPkMO-2FdnKWVuWd7g/live
Savitri around the World
The Course of the Journey –Update
Here we give a rough outline of the timings to be expected, showing Books, Cantos and Locations.Sometimes we jump a little forward and backward.
Book One –The Book of Beginnings (5 cantos, reading duration about 5 hours)Starting Time (IST): 6am 19.02. 2018. Location: India: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Pondicherry; Sri Aurobindo Bhavan Kolkata; Sri Aurobindo Centre Guwahati, Assam: Sri Aurobindo Nivas, Baroda; Sri Aurobindo Memorial School Bangalore;one reader in Goa. Thenother centersand individualsinKarnataka,Gujarat, Tamil NaduandAndhra Pradesh.
Book Two –The Book of the Traveller of the Worlds(15Cantos, reading duration about 10 hours) Starting Time c.11 am IST Location: Indiaup to the beginning of Canto 10 (6pm)Andhra Pradesh,Maharashtra, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana andSri Aurobindo Ashram Branch in India’s capital.We continue in Cantos 10-15in New Delhiand leave Indiavia Uttarakhand in the HimalayasgoingtoCentraland WestAsia: Nepal, Tibet, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, IranTurkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan andthenEgypt, the first country in Africa(total duration 11am to 9pm IST).
Book Three –The Book of the Divine Mother (4 Cantos, reading duration c.9-11.00pm)AfricaEthiopia, Kenya, Ruanda Madagascar, Reunion,South Africa,jump to Somalia in the East and back to West-Africa,Ghana, Senegal, Algeria and we cross the Mediterranean sea to EuropeGreece, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Book Four –The Book of Birth and Quest (Four Cantos,reading duration11.00pm–0.50am, a new day!)Europe:Montenegro, Bulgaria, Moldova, Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, Finland and Sweden.
Book Five –The Book of Love (3 cantos, reading duration0.50 am–1.50am) Europe: Norway, Denmarkand Germany.
Book Six –The Book of Fate (2 cantos, reading duration1.50am to4.30am) Europe:Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Spain, SwitzerlandandFrance.
Book Seven –The Book of Yoga (7 cantos, reading duration 4.30am to 9am; Cantos 1-4, Europe:France, Belgium, the Netherlands, United KingdomandIreland.Cantos 4-7North America:several states inCanada, USAand MexicoCentral America and Caribbean:Haiti,Trinidad and Tobago,then ends in South America:Brazil
Book Eight –The Book of Death (1 canto,duration 8.50-9.15am)South America:Brazil, Uruguay.
Book Nine –The Book of Everlasting Night (2 cantos, duration9.15-10.30am) South America:Argentina, Chile, EcuadorandColombia.
Book Ten –The Book of the Double Twilight (4Cantos: Canto 1:Oceania:Tahiti, New Zealand, Australia,duration 10.30-10.55am. Canto 2:East Asia:Philippines, Japan , Korea, China, Hong Kongand Singapore(10.50-11.35am).Canto 3: Singapore,Burma (Myanmar), Sri Lankaand back to India, Tamil Nadu (duration 11.30-12.36am).Canto 4:India:Tamil Nadu, Auroville:(12.36am-2pm)
Book Eleven-The Book of Everlasting Day(1Canto: duration2-4pm)and Book Twelve –Epilogue: The Return to Earth (1Canto: duration 4 to 4.30pmon20.02.2018)in Auroville.
Total expected duration: c.35 hours
