Auroville

Matrimandir The "Soul" of Auroville under construction, the Urn containing the earth of all the nations in front of it

Auroville is an international township, near Pondicherry in South India, whose sole purpose is to realize human unity in diversity. As of the latest official census of November 10, 2005, it is a community of 1,780 people (1,367 adults and 413 minors), 736 of whom are of Indian origin. The Auroville settlement has members from around 35 countries in the world.

Mirra Alfassa, known as The Mother, had organized the followers of Aurobindo into the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry, and originated the idea of the universal township. Later on, with her blessings, the idea was taken up by the Sri Aurobindo Society and along with the Indian government, the concept was presented to the United Nations. In 1966, UNESCO passed a resolution giving their acceptance and support to this unique project. The community was founded in February 1968 in order to create a bridgehead for a new consciousness which was seeking to manifest in the world, according to the vision of Sri Aurobindo, and was under the direct guidance of The Mother. The project's name is a combination of the first four letter of Aurobindo, and the French word ville for "city".

After the death of The Mother in 1973, problems arose through disagreements with some sections of the Ashram in Pondicherry and a period of turmoil followed. Due to a perceived betrayal of Sri Aurobindo's values of equanimity and harmony, a number of members became disillusioned and left Auroville, but the majority went on with building the township.

The township itself consists of areas in Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Pondicherry. Presently, the Auroville project is overseen by the Auroville Foundation through an act of Parliament called the Auroville Foundation Act (1988). The Foundation currently owns about half of the total land required for the township. Additional lands are being acquired through consistent fundraising activities by the Aurovilian residents for which endeavour they are considerably helped by Auroville InternationalCenters throughout the world. The city was planned by The Mother with some rudimentary sketches, leaving the details for future generations. Basically the shape of the town is fashioned after a spiral galaxy, symbolising life and humankind's evolving existence. In the middle of the town is the Matrimandir, the "Soul" of the city, symbolizing the birth of a new consciousness, of a new era where human unity, conscious living and inter-cultural collaboration are to prevail. The Matrimandir is the "cohesive force" of the township, a place "to find one's consciousness". Radiating from this centre are four "zones" as indicated by The Mother: the "Residential Zone", "Industrial Zone", "Cultural Zone" and "International Zone". Around the city area proper a so-called "Green Belt" has formed through rigorous and steady rehabilitation of the land. Here one finds Auroville's farms, forestries and a large botanical garden-in-the-make. In future it is going to act as a buffer-zone and an area for recreation.

There are more than 100 settlements spread throughout the Auroville area, each different in their style and standard of living and concentrating on various activities, such as for instance:

• Aspiration (education, health and activities of the village)
• Aurelec (computer science)
• Fertile (reforestation and agriculture)
• Forecomers (reforestation)
• Fraternity (art community working together with the local Tamil communities)
• Meadows (reforestation and agriculture)
• Nine Palms (reforestation and agriculture)

Philosophy

Contrary to a view sometimes voiced, Auroville is not a sect or a cult. It is a project recognised by the government of India and the UN. Auroville is committed to a life free of violence, for world peace and understanding of the nations and, most of all, the unity of humankind. Auroville also emphasises living in harmony with nature and the environment, which means that a large number of the self-constructed houses are either made out of recycled material, or natural materials such as compressed mud bricks, or made out of materials that are least burdening to nature. A Housing Service oversees the allotments of the buildings, endeavouring to have these built in sustainably responsible ways. Sustainability is an important cornerstone, therefore a lot of the energy produced at Auroville comes from solar panels and other renewable sources. The community has an extensive reforestation programme, that was shaped through its experience of working the land and rehabilitation projects during the last 40 years. The area around Auroville used to be a tropical forest centuries ago, due to local population growth and overfarming, these forests slowly vanished. The exploited earth became very dry, which in turn led to decreased rainfall in the area. Auroville is reverting that process through its persistent sapling-planting and other erosion control programmes, which have been quite successful.

Auroville emphasises a non-authoritarian learning free of any dogma, a consequence of which is that children living in Auroville have a fairly large freedom in choosing the topics of their study. There are a good number of schools in the vicinity, ranging from creche to high school education. Also extensive sport programmes are organised for them.

Residents of Auroville do not pay a membership fee or anything of the sort, but are required to help the community whenever possible and adhere to the guidelines laid down by The Mother. Auroville finances itself in part by a great variety of handicrafts units, building construction units, information technology, small and medium scale businesses, producing and selling f.i. recycled paper for stationery items, as well as producing its well-known incense sticks, which can be bought in their own shops in Pondicherry, or are sold around India and abroad. Other activities include afforestation, organic agriculture, educational research, health care, village development, appropriate technology, town planning, water table management, cultural activities and community services.

External link

• Auroville.org Main site
• Auroville Cultural Exchange
• Future plan of Auroville
• Communities Directory Fellowship for Intentional Community listing for Auroville.