15km from the city is the Auroville. This is also where the Matri Mandir – an intriguing meditation complex made by the Mother and Aurobindo is located. My first view of this center was a sense of lot of ‘disjoint’ communities working together. It probably felt disjoint because the different building complexes are some distance from each other, and surrounded by the forest. So in the visitor’s area we have a gallery that shows the ashrams various works, a cafe, some boutiques and some offices. Apart from that there is only the surrounding forest in view. After some inquiries we found there were more than 5 guest houses in the area with varying accommodations where we could stay. Apart from that there are lots of projects these people are involved in as varied as rural outreach to energy conservation systems, local handicrafts, arts, culture and a whole lot more.
Walking from one area to the other can be about 15 minutes, half of which you would be walking in forested area. I think some vehicle like a moped would be very useful here! About 4000 people are staying here and working on different projects, I would have liked to know more about them but didn’t have the time.
Matri Mandir
A golden globe with circular dishes on it rising from the Earth as red petals unfold around it – the Matri mandir stands tall in a green expanse! Seeing this temple from outside was interesting and one would want to go inside. At least on the first visit all of us have to keep our want to ourselves, as we can go in only with prior appointment on another day. Since I was in Pondicherry for many days, I was able to get an appointment and visit the temple inside. It was very different in its interior architecture and design! It has an ambiance that should be experienced…
Mother who is considered divine saw this temple in the future and told the others about it. The community has spent over 40 years to construct this temple! Mothers wishes were to have 12 gardens around the temple which are yet to be cultivated, but her people are working on it. These gardens are intended to show certain aspects like beauty, youth, bliss etc.. Their challenge is to cultivate a garden that actually makes a person feel youth when he/she is walking through it! Quite a difficult and yet exciting task I think :) It was all very intriguing to me.
From the City
You can take a taxi or rickshaw from the city to Auroville. There is also a bus that goes daily from Aurobindo ashram to Auroville at about 8.00 am, but it returns at a fixed time so that would restrict how much time you can spend there.
The Aurobindo ashram in Pondicherry is surprisingly distinct from this settlement, considering that Auroville was Aurobindo’s movement as much as the ashram was! In fact a few questions can uncover some hostilities towards the other establishment. For a visitor however these things may not matter much but for anyone planning to involve themselves further in the movement these signs could point towards deeper problems.
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