Pondicherry Hot Spots
Auroville
8 kms. north of Pondicherry is Auroville. The foundation was laid on 28th February 1968, when a boy and a girl representing each of 124 countries of the World poured a handful of their native soil into a concrete lotus, symbolic of their support of the project. The purpose of the Auroville is to realise human unity.
Auroville is described as the city of Tomorrow where an attempt is made to replicate on much larger scale the experiment that is being carried out in Sri Aurobindo Ashram for the evolution of a new society envisioned by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother where people could live "freely as citizens of the world, obeying one single authority that of the Supreme Truth, a place of peace, concord, harmony". Under the Mother's direction it was launched in 1968 with the co-operation of many nations.
The small township of Auroville or the City of Dawn was designed by a French architect, Roger Arger. It is an entirely new concept in education and urban living. There are about 40 odd settlements located around a central focus called the Matrimandir. These settlements are engaged in a variety of activities, including afforestation, farming, education and handicrafts. The total area of Auroville is about 50 sq km. No local transport is available inside the township. A conducted tour of Auroville from Boutique d'Auroville, 12 Nehru Street, Pondicherry, takes interested visitors around settlements of Auroville. (for more details click here )