Auroville is the largest existing eco-city attempt in the world. Located in the south of India near the former French colony Pondicherry, it brings together in the same place the 100 communities scattered across the globe that I have been able to see until today.
The story begins more than 50 years ago when the Mother of Auroville – Mirra Richard, Indian and French – dreams of a place where humanity can live united, in peace and in harmony with nature, beyond of all beliefs, political opinions and nationalities.
“There should be somewhere on Earth a place which no nation could claim as its own, where all human beings of goodwill who have a sincere aspiration could live freely as citizens of the world and obey one single authority, that of the supreme truth” – Mother of auroville
She joins UNESCO and Sri Aurobindo, one of the leaders of the Indian independence movement, also a philosopher, poet and spiritual writer who then developed the new approach of Integral yoga *.
Together, with the help of volunteers from all walks of life, they draw a plan in the shape of a spiral galaxy to build what will become Auroville and its different zones: cultural, industrial, residential and international.
From visionary dream to realization
The intention of the project is to provide a framework in which humanity can develop their full potential not only physically and materially but also spiritually.
An impressive development
From an arid desert, the Aurovilians have managed to create a lush forest that sometimes looks like wild jungle where today live more than 3,000 residents of 70 different nationalities as well as an abundant biodiversity of animals, birds and insects of all kinds that provide a permanent background music concert.
Organized into a hundred work units, each community develops a particular project in fields ranging from agriculture to education, health, holistic medicine, crafts, scientific research, IT or architecture.
Breathtaking diversity
This is how Auroville is full of schools, music and arts center, permaculture, botany, eco-construction, reforestation project, forest and water management but also cinema, house of editions, textile production, meditation center … projects as rural as urban.
Each year, the Endangered Crafts fair at the Youth Center in Auroville is offered to young people so as not to forget their ancestral skills.
Making paper, leather, metal, building tree houses, pottery, painting, or even upcycling, a greener process that aims to transform waste rather than recycle it for the same purpose.
Building peace in the minds of men and women: the same mission as UNESCO
With 50 years of experience and the support of the Indian ministry and institutions like UNESCO, Auroville has managed to build a social and economic system that is approaching stability.
A kind of social security and cooperative allows residents to meet most of the food and material needs and receive a pension. They also have free access to education, basic medical care, sports and the many cultural activities of Auroville.
Building on its success, waiting lists for all the benefits of Auroville are also growing. With the rise of tourism in the place, certain rules change but the procedure to become Aurovilian remains similar to the primary intention of the Mother.
To become an Aurovilian, you must prove yourself by staying there for at least a year as a volunteer and respect the Auroville charter:
- Auroville does not belong to anyone in particular. It belongs to all of humanity. But to stay there, one must be the voluntary servant of the Divine Consciousness;
2. Auroville will be the place of perpetual education, 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 the exterior and interior discoveries, she boldly wants to dash towards future achievements;
4. Auroville will be the place of material and spiritual research to give a living body to a concrete human unity.
Global but also local impact
Auroville has greatly changed its organic region. Where roads weren’t even there, little by little schools and jobs were built which helped thousands of Indians to change their situation.
The Auroville development is scheduled to accommodate more than 50,000 residents. But the community is not ready for it yet. Beyond the human conflicts which reign there as everywhere else, a significant water shortage slows down its development.
Paradoxically, with climate change, the rising waters of the Indian Ocean cover every year more parts of Auroville’s properties.
The question of whether we can use ocean water for Auroville’s needs has not yet been resolved… Meanwhile, the heart of the city with its Matrimandir, built on a mountain, is protected and continues to allow the experimentation of this not so utopian project.
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