Garden of Remembrance at Adyar
The Garden of Remembrance in the Adyar headquarters of the Theosophical Society is a lovely setting honoring the lives of important leaders of the Society. Ashes from each of the deceased presidents of the Society are present, along with those of Charles Webster Leadbeater. It served as the inspiration for gardens created in 1937 at the International Theosophical Centre in Naarden, The Netherlands, and in 2001 at the Olcott headquarters campus of the Theosophical Society in America.
 
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For additional photographs, see Veludharan's Temples Visit blog.
History
The second international president Annie Besant died on September 20, 1933 and was cremated in Adyar at a site near the Adyar River, not far from where the first president Colonel Henry Steel Olcott had been cremated in 1907.
Two years later, on September 20, 1935, during the Diamond Jubilee year of the Theosophical Society, the Garden of Remembrance was dedicated. The ashes of Mrs. Besant's coworker Charles Webster Leadbeater were interred at that time.[1]
In 1937, with the permission of president George S. Arundale, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Hotchener took a little soil from the exact spot of Dr. Besant's cremation. On July 19, 1939, that soil was planted with a tree to commemorate Annie Besant's last lecture at the Olcott headquarters. The Hotcheners wanted to create a physical connection between Adyar and Olcott. The Garden of Remembrance at Olcott was created in 2001 very near to that memorial tree.
The third president, George S. Arundale, passed away on August 12, 1945. His wife, Rukmini Devi Arundale traveled to Haridwar and Rishikesh to immerse his ashes.[2] A small portion of ashes was sent to the Theosophical Society in America, where it was interred in the Garden of Remembrance in 2015. A plaque was installed in the garden on December 24, 1945.[3]
On December 25, 1954, a plaque was installed in honor of the fourth president, Curuppumullage Jinarājadāsa. Brother Raja passed away at Olcott during a lecture tour following his resignation from the presidency. He had been in ill health for some time. He was cremated in the United States, and most of his ashes were scattered on the Fox River by James S. Perkins, Kathrine Perkins, Helen Zahara, Caroline Tess, and Geoffrey Hodson, according to Brother Raja's specific instructions.
Layout of the garden
The central structure of the garden is a six-pointed star comprised of the two interlacing triangles featured in the emblem of the Society. Plaques are attached to the sides of the star honoring each of the people buried there. Lotus pools are in the background.
Notes
- ↑ Josephine Ransom, "The Diamond Jubilee Convention of the Theosophical Society" The American Theosophist 24 no. 4 (April, 1936): 39.
- ↑ Rukmini Devi Arundale, "Rukmini on Herself," Rukmini Devi Arundale: Birth Centenary Commemorative Volume, Shakuntala Ramani, ed., (Chennai, India: The Kalakshetra Foundation, 2003), 64.
- ↑ Anonymous, "The 80th International Convention" The American Theosophist 44 no. 3 (March, 1946): 67.