Introduction to Auroville
The international township project of Auroville was inaugurated on 28th February 1968, when young people representing 124 countries and all the Indian States placed a handful of earth from their home lands in a marble-clad urn in middle of the Amphitheater near the site of Matrimandir, at the centre of Auroville, symbolising the creation of a city dedicated to human unity and international understanding.
Based upon the work and inspiration of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, Auroville is intended as a site for the manifestation of human unity in diversity. As such, it offers itself as a testing ground and laboratory for the next step in human evolution.
The Charter of Auroville
The Auroville Charter, given by The Mother on 28th February 1968, reads as follows:
1. Auroville belongs to nobody in particular. Auroville belongs to humanity as a whole. But to live in Auroville one must be a willing servitor of the Divine Counsciousness.
2. Auroville will be the place of an unending education, of constant progress, and a youth that never ages.
3. Auroville wants to be the bridge between the past and the future. Taking advantage of all discoveries from without and from within, Auroville will boldly spring towards future realisations.
4. Auroville will be a site of material and spiritual researches for a living embodiment of an actual Human Unity.
The City and Population
Auroville, "The City of Dawn", is planned for 50,000 inhabitants with 2500 acres of land - spread over more than 25 square kilometers. At the centre stands the Matrimandir, the "soul of Auroville", a place for quiet reflection and concentration. Radiating out, beyond the Matrimandir Gardens, will be four zones - the industrial (north), cultural (north east), residential (south/south west) and international (west) - each focussing an important aspect of the community's activities. Surrounding the city area will be an afforested green belt.
While much land has still to be acquired, Auroville presently manages about 2/3 of the total acreage within the city area and much less in the Green Belt.
The present `community' of Auroville consists of nearly 80 settlement of varying sizes, separated by village and temple lands. The activities of the inhabitants are multifarious, and include affrestation, organic agriculture, educational research, health care, village development, appropriate technology and construction, small and medium scale businesses, town planning, cultural activities and community services.
Today Auroville is a community of just under 1,500 people, drawn from nearly 30 countries. There are 13 villages in the immediate Auroville area, comprising about 20,000 people. The approximate total for the larger area around Auroville is 35-40,000. Of this total, some 4-5,000 are employed by Auroville.
Visitors Centre & Matrimandir
In the Auroville Visitors Centre, is the AV Information Service, a photo exhibition with table models, an Auroville boutique with all the diverse products of Auroville on display, a crafts showroom etc. Visitors who come with deeper interest in the township and wish to visit specific units or places of special interest, can ask the Visitors Centre to make contact and arrange a visit.
Visitors should keep in mind that the Matrimandir is not a `tourist' site; it's a place for silent concentrations, which should be visited in an appropriate physical and mental state. No photography is allowed on the Matrimandir premises and no offering of flowers or incense is permitted inside the Inner Chamber. Cleanliness, quiet and discipline are indispensible. In case of rain, the Inner Chamber remains closed.
Last update: 10.04.2008