Family Background & Childhood, Bengal (1872-1879)

Born on August 15^th 1872, he is named Aravinda Ackroyd Ghosh. His mother is Swarnalata Devi and father, Dr. Krishna Dhan Ghosh, a medical doctor. He is the youngest of three boys: the eldest is Benoybushan and the next eldest is Manmohan. Later his younger sister Sarojini is born followed by the birth of a younger brother, Barindra Kumar.

The parents hire an English nurse to look after the children, from whom they learn English. When Sri Aurobindo is five, he is sent to Loretto Convent School at Darjeeling, a Christian Covenant School in Bengal where most of the other children are English speaking and the teachers are Irish nuns.

Sri Aurobindo describes his father: “Keen of intellect, tender of heart, impulsive and generous almost to recklessness, regardless of his own wants but sensitive to the sufferings of others – this was the inventory of the character of Dr. Krishna Dhan Ghose.”