A place called 'Peace' in India

Today we're visiting Auroville, India, aka the 'City of Dawn'. In 1968, French-born guru and yogi Mirra Alfassa founded this spiritual community in southern India as a place where people of all races, religions and nationalities could live together peacefully. Although conceived as a utopia for 50,000, only about 2,800 people from over 50 countries live here today. The golden metallic orb, the Matrimandir, is considered the soul of the city, standing in the centre of the 2,000-acre township in an area called 'Peace'. Silence is maintained inside the sphere. A spiralling ramp leads up to a white-marble, air-conditioned inner chamber designed to find one's consciousness. Reservations required – at least for tourists.

Auroville is so much more than just the Matrimandir. And like most of us even I made the mistake of doing a half day tour of Auroville 5 years back. But coming back here for long was always on my radar. So finally in December'18 I decided to stay here for a week.
Auroville is basically an experimental township where people from multiple nationalities are able to live in an integrated harmonious way, with a common purpose of realising human unity. A place where people come to live their dreams. Be it a business manager turned social entrepreneur, a market researcher turned farmer, or a graphic designer turned musician, this is definitely the place where creativity is the means to a better way of living.

For an experiential traveller like me, this is the perfect platform for understanding the community living and learning from some life-enriching experiences. Although on a very small scale, Auroville is a commendable example of alternate and sustainable living, and a proof of harmonious integration between the locals and expats.
Even after living here for a week, I still find it difficult to capture this place in words. But it’s a genuine break from the only way of life most of us have lived so far. So instead of a day tour, stay here for a while, indulge in delicious organic food, volunteer in a few interesting activities, make some new friends and basically live a little.

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