ABOUT AUROVILLE
Auroville (City of Dawn) is an experimental township in Viluppuram district of state of Tamil Nadu, near Pondicherry. It was founded in 1968 by Mirra Alfassa (known as "The Mother") and designed by architect Roger Anger. As stated in Alfassa's first public message about the township, "Auroville is meant 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 realize human unity. The soil from 124 countries was placed in a lotus-shaped urn and mixed to symbolize universal oneness"
Some 12 km northwest of Pondicherry, Aurovillians run a huge variety of projects ranging from schools and IT to organic farming, renewable energy and handicrafts production, employing 4000 to 5000 people from nearby villages.
Things To Do In Auroville
Auroville, the international city has got a lot activities to do. It is an amazing experience to go and meditate at the Matrimandir one of the key activities at Auroville. Apart from this once a person is willing to offer his services to the Auroville he or she can visit the visitor center and engage for various voluntary services ranging from gardening to farming, pottery to maintaining various areas of Auroville, also the person can choose from a variety of activities according to their caliber and capability. There are a lot of places of interest to visit as well apart from the voluntary services. One can take a taxi to visit nearby places of interest and gain in depth knowledge into India’s history. Also there are some of the most beautiful beaches in the country which gives one an opportunity to feel the waters of Bay of Bengal. Auroville beach, serenity beach just a couple to name.
Beach road in white Town has a very beautiful promenade where people can enjoy a morning jog or a romantic walk in the evening. It’s a happening place in the evening with many roadside eateries and a 24 hour café for the guests.
About Matrimandir
In the middle of the town is the Matrimandir, which was conceived by "The Mother" as "a symbol of the Divine's answer to man's aspiration for perfection". Silence is maintained inside the Matrimandir to ensure the tranquility of the space and entire area surrounding the Matrimandir is called Peace area.
The Matri Mandir is no doubt the finest attraction of Auroville. It consist of 4 concrete columns supporting an inner circular chamber, The external edges of the columns form a circle. The space frame (grid of triangles) forming the outer part of the structure looks like a flattened globe. The outer part is covered with mesh of gold encased discs. The inner chamber is lined with lighted cloth. Entry to the inside chamber is through two helical ramps. In the center lies a crystal globe. In gets illuminated by solitary light rays of sun from a heliostat mounted on the roof. Matrimandir is equipped with a solar power plant and is surrounded by manicured gardens. When there is no sun or after the sunset, the sunray on the globe is replaced by a beam from a solar powered light.
