Auroville is an experimental township in Viluppuram district mostly in the state of Tamil Nadu. Auroville wants to be a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities.
The purpose of Auroville is to realise human unity.
It is also known as the world's largest existing spiritual utopia, Auroville, aka " the City of Dawn "
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| not too sure what they were doing ????? |
and these photo shots took us almost 1 hour to be perfected..... 
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| absorbing in the environment.... |
Auroville is a small town 16 km north of Pondicherry. This town was a vision of "The Mother" from Sri Aurobino Ashram at Pondicherry. She envisioned a town where unity will be celebrated and all will have spiritual vocation.
Auroville was founded as a project of the Sri Aurobino in 1968 by his disciple Mirra Alfassa, popularly known as The Mother.
It is designed by French architect Roger Anger.
Auroville was built by hand by the flower-power generation of the 1960s. It was the "psychological revolution" as W.M. Sullivan noted in his book The Dawning of Auroville . - a venture in which Marxist flavored socialism met Anarchy. There was no money, no government,no religion,no skyscrapers or expressways,no newspapers, no poverty ........ Built for 50,000 people, Auroville today has only 2500 permanent residents and roughly 5000 visitors, self selected exiles from more than 100 countries.
The glow of the golden discs : What transport someone to a different world is the golden aura that the structure exudes. While the disc frames and discs themselves are stainless steel, they are embellished in 28 gm of gold per 1000 leaves. A total number of 1415 discs create a stunning effect.
This is circular structure with a golden metallic sphere in the center. Inside the Matrimandir is a spiralling ramp leads upwards to an airconditioned chamber of polished white marble referred to as " a place to find one's consciousness".
Matrimandir is equipped with a solar powered plant and is surrounded by manicured gardens. When there is no sun or after sunset, the sunray on the globe is replaced by a beam from a solar powered light.
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| the path leading into the Matrimandir |
and the 12 gardens: Existence, Consciousness,Bliss, Light, Life, Power, Wealth,Utility, Progress,Youth, Harmony and Perfection.
The sequence in which these names are listed is important because , in Sanskrit, the first 3 names are Sat-Chit-Ananda, which is the essence of the Divine.
Perfection being the ultimate aim of evolution comes last in the list. The gardens rotate counter-clockwise and the first and last gardens are on either side of the East radial pathway.
* The four pillars or personalities : The four pillars ie North, South, East and West pillars are named after the four aspects or personalities of the Supreme Mother that is respectively, Mahakali, Maheshwari, Mahalakshmi, Mahasaraswati.
* The power of Twelve: Twelve meditation rooms lie inside the Matrimandir's 12 large petals, after her 12 virtues or qualities ie Sincerity, Humility, Gratitude, Perseverance, Aspiration, Receptivity, Progress, Courage, Goodness, Generosity, Equality, Peace. What is interesting is that this symbolism of 12 has been carried forward to th landscaped gardens, each meditation room being flanked by a unique garden-design that expressed these values.
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* The Banyan Tree - Epic center. The geographical center of the spiritual township was depicted by a lone Banyan tree.
had many distractions ......
at the Visitors Center ,
SVARAM
SVARAM is a community enterprise founded more than 10 years ago in Auroville, in association with the international UNESCO endorsed project of Auroville. SVARAM is recognised in the UN Compendium "Music as a Global Resource" as one of the first 100 selected projects working towards achievement of the "Millennium Goals" though a socio-cultural-creative enterprising approach.
More than 20 years of international research in musicology, acoustics, harmonic studies, intangible heritage, and healing arts - integrating at the same time traditional craft talents, indigenous skills and community organisation systems of Tamil culture.
Around Auroville on our bikes, we accidentally browsed in a textile shop in the village and spent almost 45 min in there....bought bedspreads and cotton wear ....
and 50 meters from our Greens Guesthouse we also found a essential oils and cotton manufacturer......
OMG !!!! so many choices .......
Yean volunteeerd to carry up all our shopping to our room before we go out to dinner ...
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| Cottage Industry |
