experimental township meaning

Top Experimental Towns and Communities of the World

Here's a list of some experimental towns

Arcosanti, arizona, auroville, india, royal saltworks of arc-et-senans, france, free town christiania, denmark, maharishi vedic city, iowa, palmanova, italy, penedo, brazil, findhorn eco-village, scotland.

Throughout history, individuals have been on the journey of finding the ideal city. A paradise, designed with peace in mind, where everyone gets along and functions together without war. humans have attempted to build this world, not solely in tales but furthermore in actual life.

A few cities have sprung up around the realm planned with this perfect society in the psyche. However inescapably they fall short of epitome, it's however conceivable to explore some of these cities and hamlets that existed once (and may still be) a stronghold of promising will and alliance.

Irrespective of their prosperity or loss, idealistic towns around the world (or what persists of them) are reminders of something else. They demonstrate that a paradise, distant from being a sheer physical location, is a realm that achieves into worlds of the imperceptible, the unthinkable, and the prominent among kindness. Paradises furthermore imply the probability of procuring the just visualized into the real universe.

The assessing desert of Arizona is lodging to a community established by Italian architect, Paolo Soleri in 1970. He yearned that his town should serve a community of thousands of individuals in an area where nature and architecture coexisted flawlessly, a location that will not damage the Planet.

Since then, thousands of apprentices and few permanent inhabitants have survived functioning on the formation of the community that is today Arcosanti a small portion of what Soleri once comprehended as a community of architects and unrestricted minds residing together in the desert.

Regardless of formation, the city is funded by the travel industry and workshops, and through the regional production of commodities in ceramic and bronze.

In southern India, an experimental town has served since 1968 when it was established by guru and occultist Mirra Alfassa, recognized since then as "The Mother." The town's physical magnificence is comparable exclusively with the glamour of its utopian societies.

It's a city established for individuals from anywhere in the globe who wish to live in serenity and advanced unity, regardless of their moralities, political stances, or nationalities. Auroville was formulated in the form of a universe whose center is an enormous, golden sphere filled with meditation halls.

Today, it is the residence of more than 2,000 citizens from further than 40 nations, and the town comprises industries selling off some of what is generated within the society, plus a school, ranches, and some eateries. The town, pertaining lawfully to the government of India, operates completely without money. Electricity, education, and health care are all entirely free.

In an industrial region in the French saltworks at Arc-et-Senans, one day an idealistic town was constructed. It was sophisticated for craftsperson and their families within a town formulated by the architect Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, who, during his lifetime, built various idealistic towns which invited both relations and coexistence.

The format of the buildings is in circles encircling the saltworks. Regional harvesting of the salt started in 1779 and proceeded for almost 200 years until 1962. It's told that while it was running the town never acted according to any strategy because the harsh working situations resulted in so many crises among the citizens. The remains of the failed paradise regardless stand in the Chaux forest and are today a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Within Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, this idealistic town was established in 1971 by reporter Jacob Ludvigsen who'd fallen in affection himself with the unrestricted affection trend.

Ludvigsen visualized a self-sustaining community that was once the discarded barracks of the Danish troop. One of the group's beliefs gave emphasis to the significance of the health of the society over that of any person.

Sadly, drugs shortly surged the town and its citizens quit working together with the law. Christiania became Copenhagen's center for trade drugs. However a crisis today, the community proceeds to battle to conserve itself through the travel industry and some regional happenings.

Inhabitants of this town meditate twice each day. In Iowa, USA, the town was created in 2001 under the standards of formless meditation a trend which has proceeded to prosper in recent decades in part due to the popularization of its founder Maharishi Mahesh Yogi by the Beatles during the 1960s.

The town, regulated by a committee of five, is founded on the Veda, a historical Indian principle providing priority to unity, equilibrium, and natural law.

Thus, all the buildings in the town are the same. Pursuing the way of the sun, each is oriented toward the east. All of the homes have a room in the center aimed at absolutely as an area for calmness.

Each building is furthermore within one of the ten circles of houses building up the town and allocated in circles. Maharishi Vedic City furthermore possesses its own watchtower, a resort, a spa, and common schools to educate kids the moralities of formless meditation.

Power is attained by renewable resources and artificial pesticides or non-organic fertilizers are forbidden on the large ranches that generate the city's organic food, which is furthermore traded through numerous platforms all around the United States.

A closed town in the structure of a star, Palmanova was established by the administrators of Venice in 1593 as a self-sustaining society in which all citizens were equivalent and each played a position within its civilization. One of the principal purposes for its fabrication was to protect the Venetian Empire from Turkish and Austrian assaults.

After its formation and despite its being an ideal town, nobody wished to reside there, restricted and in persistent threat of being attacked. Palmanova was shortly resided merely by the military crew, although in 1622 it took in a decent volume of discharged convicts.

Even today it's not evident whether any of them ever resided according to the idealistic statutes that played such a portion in the town's generation. Today, some 5,400 individuals live inside Palmanoca, a frustrated paradise.

The community of Penedo was established in 1929 by a federation of Finns who migrated to Brazil directed by their priest, Toivo Uuskallio. He was assured that God had elected him to create a Finnish paradise in the tropics.

Fellows of the town were vegans none of whom drank or smoked, and all functioned on a ranch which delivered none with any revenue. In 1942, they realized that stuff was not functioning without any wealth.

Penedo started to fall apart and served as a traveller allure and the enclave of the Finnish societies in Brazil. Today the location can be explored and gives hostels, events, shops, and eateries.

Scotland's Findhorn Ecovillage is probably the most outstanding illustration of a society established on beliefs of environmental sustainability and renewable power. The town was initiated in the 1960s, but it didn't adopt its current structure until 1982 when inhabitants formulated a concerted endeavor to exhibit that an environmentally unobtrusive society could prosper both socially and economically.

The town still prevails today and has been remarked as retaining the lightest environmental footprint of any city in the modern world. This is gratitude to an ecologically friendly construction code that stimulates the usage of found materials buildings are constructed from recycled whiskey barrels along with wind turbines and a water treatment equipment named the "Living Machine," which generates usage of algae, snails, and plant life to cleanse the town's water supply.

These towns are the example that we can create heaven on earth and live together with peace and love.

• The Overview
• Art & Culture
• Environmental Justice
• Ethical Fashion
• Identity & Community

Life Inside India’s Auroville, ‘The City the Earth Needs’

Words by Riddhi Dastidar

photographs by shubham lodha

The experimental township of Auroville was founded 50 years ago in Tamil Nadu with an eco-utopian vision that promised to reinstate faith in humanity. But its history has been fraught with accusations of corruption and infighting—excluding the local communities who helped build it and culminating in today’s thorny reckoning.

In the 1970s a tree called karuvel first set root in the coast of Southern India. The species, Acacia Auriculiformis, was Australian, and was brought over to India by the forest department for ornamental purposes. It is named for the shape of its dark, curling seed-pod: an ear. Today, it grows all over the coast of Tamil Nadu, and its rich heartwood makes good furniture. 

Acacia is what is called an invasive species, a pest. It is good at growing in harsh conditions: both in soil that is acidic and mildly alkaline, shallow as well as deep, waterlogged or wherever the land is degraded and the sunlight direct. In Auroville, a 50-year-old experimental international township in India, acacia is known as the work tree. So named for its essential role in bringing back the lush tropical evergreen forest of ebony and red sander, it’s also a gesture at the ethos of Auroville—renaming, reshaping, and working towards transformation.

The Beginning

Auroville was born not long before acacia arrived here. Founded in 1968 in the Villupuram district of Tamil Nadu, Auroville was created on the premise of an “ideal  township ” devoted to human unity by housing 50,000 people from some 60 nations around the world.  It is one of several attempts at building utopia—other examples include Arcosanti and Twin Oaks, all of which were spurred by back-to-the-land and free-love movements of the 1960s and 1970s. Among these, Auroville is the oldest enduring settlement, and today it is commended by UNESCO as a project of importance to the future of humanity. It’s also an interesting contradiction—embodying at once a different register of time, as well as the pitfalls of unseeing the place where utopia is made. 

The story of Auroville starts with a Parisienne, Mirra Alfassa , who was immersed in yoga and occult practices popular at the time, including the Cosmic Movement. Since childhood she’d had recurring visions of a figure—whom she eventually came to meet when visiting Pondicherry . His name was Sri Aurobindo, an Indian freedom fighter-turned-spiritual leader and the founder of “ integral yoga .” Fresh out of a jail sentence in connection with the Alipore Bomb Case against British colonial rule that was initially deemed treasonous (and then judged baseless), he had come to French-ruled Pondicherry (neighboring Tamil Nadu) seeking refuge from the British government. Over time he retreated further into his meditation and Alfassa—whom he proclaimed his spiritual partner and hailed as the “Mother” (an embodiment of the force of Creation)—organized his followers into the Aurobindo Ashram in 1926.  

In a world marked by the atom bomb and US-Soviet hostility, Aurobindo and the Mother felt that humanity was lost. They believed that the way forward would come from India—which they thought of as a spiritual partner to the West’s scientific temperament. Auroville would be this laboratory anchored by integral yoga, a kind of yoga practiced in ordinary life towards a Supramental consciousness, in order to offer solutions to the mess of humankind and hasten the advent of a new species closer to the Divine.

“This whole thing about Auroville being a place for karma yoga—it is through the doing, the working together to build the city, that unity will be forged.”

Alfassa anointed Auroville, which is today home to around 3,300 residents , as “the city the Earth needs.” Travel there today, and you can’t miss the signboards emblazoned with the phrase. But Auroville’s growth from the founder to a few thousand was not an isolated phenomenon. 

After Indian independence from British rule, a young nation-state tried to find its way on the world stage. Diplomatic ties with former colonizers seemed beneficial—and Auroville benefitted too. In the new world order the European Union, the French government, the Ford Foundation, and many private European and American citizens were keen to support this idyllic experiment with their money. Hippie culture was in the air and utopias seemed possible—their mission, even urgent. To build Auroville, Europeans and Americans—mostly white—came to Pondicherry , seduced by what the township and its leaders promised. Something different. Over time they hired Tamil people from the surrounding villages as construction labor. And as Auroville expanded, the township bought up more and more village lands that had previously been devoted to subsistence farming of groundnuts or cashew. 

Today these villages—including Kuilapalayam, Moratandi, Edayanchavadi, Kottakarai, and Sanjeevnagar—are called the “bioregion” by Aurovillians. Depending on how you see it, they exist to service Auroville. As one village worker in a big Auroville farm told me, “Without Auroville there is nothing.”

The Politics

Despite—or perhaps inevitably because of—its spiritual-utopian ambitions, Auroville has always been rife with conflict . The infighting has historically involved two groups: those aligned with ecological restoration and gradual progress, and those frustrated with the slowness of the promised city that has digressed into what critics disparagingly call an “eco-village.” Interwoven with forests, regenerated by Aurovillians over decades, it is certainly a departure from life in other cities—strangled by traffic, construction, and pollution.

A threefold-structure guides Auroville— the Governing Board (appointed by the Government of India), an International Advisory Council (advisory members), and the Residents Assembly (of Aurovillians). All assets are vested in a legal body, the Auroville Foundation, headed by the Secretary. Since July 2021, this office has been held by a polarizing figure, Jayanti Ravi. Her term has been marked b y an unprecedented schism between residents, 22 court cases brought by a section of residents against the Foundation, and rescinding of visas to several dissenting long-time Aurovillians who are foreign nationals—most shockingly of Satprem Maini who founded the Earth Institute—with all of this playing out in public. The central contention has been over the construction of a road: should it adhere strictly to a decades-old masterplan? Or should the plan be updated to avoid cutting forests that have taken decades to grow? Now, there are two parallel sets of bodies that operate. Two Working Committees. Two Auroville Councils. One with the approval of the Foundation and the Secretary—and the other selected by the Residents Assembly.

Undeniably, over the last two years, various established groups selected largely through voting by residents like the Funds and Assets Management Committee (FAMC), Farm Group, and Media Outreach have been renamed “Services” in favor of the Foundation, and their staff replaced. Aurovillians on the side of the Foundation (those who favor strict adherence to the Galaxy Plan) were cagey about autonomy allegedly being taken away from the Residents Assembly (those who want a gradual approach prioritizing ecorestoration). In January new modifications to admission for Auroville seemed to confer greater powers to the Secretary, and mandate stricter scrutiny of residents. Similar regulations were gazetted for selection of the Working Committee , selected until now by the Residents Assembly per the Auroville Foundation Act. For this article I spoke with over 60 residents and workers in Auroville with differing views on this conflict. 

This is how things proceeded for a long time: Aurovillians built their houses manually and set about reforesting an eroded landscape marked by red laterite soil. Between 1971 and 2008 they built the Matrimandir (Auroville’s spiritual center, symbolizing the birth of a new consciousness). Governing Boards came and went; a lot of discussion was theoretical because outside of private networks there was no funding. 

The Mother had in 1965 commissioned an architect, Roger Anger, to develop a blueprint based on a sketch she made for the city—the Galaxy Plan . In the center would be the golden-domed Matrimandir. Around it, the Crown Road connecting four zones: international, cultural, residential and industrial. There would then be the “Outer Circle” and Green Belt—forest and farmland creating a buffer between Auroville and surrounding Tamil Nadu-Pondicherry. 

But, as Anuradha Majumdar of the Foundation-recognized Working Committee told me, a “section of people” have run Auroville for many years and delayed building the city towards their own self-interest of holding onto land and a bourgeois lifestyle. Her view was echoed by other Foundation-appointed members of various committees as well as others invested in bringing the city to life without further delay, seemingly no matter the divisions. To reach the kind of no-money economy Auroville was meant to be, associated economists believed it was crucial to reach a town population of between 40,000 and 50,000 for which housing and infrastructure must be expanded. 

“This whole thing about Auroville being a place for karma yoga—it is through the doing , the working together to build the city, that unity will be forged,” Majumdar said. Incidentally with the new Governing Board, the Indian government seems to be extremely willing to support this building— investing up to Rs 1,700 crores —into housing and roads, according to Aurovillians closely associated with the Foundation Office. The government is extremely proud of Auroville as a project, an FAMC member said when I asked why. It is worth noting similar investments across the country into spiritual tourism , particularly the national spectacle of the Ram temple in Ayodhya (replacing the demolished Babri Masjid) which has spent over 900 crore with little oversight, as observed by the Caravan Magazine . 

“We somehow felt like in Auroville [having devoted our lives and savings] we will be taken care of. Yeah, that story’s over.”

Meanwhile, various Tamil Aurovillians I interviewed, as well as others (both dissenting and Foundation-aligned), admitted that Tamil Aurovillians have historically not been very active in decisionmaking. 

At the General Meeting called by the Residents Assembly that I observed, around 200 people showed up—among whom I counted less than 30 Brown faces. Sathiya, a Tamil Aurovillian in the Auroville Council, attributed this to underconfidence by Tamils. “If you want to take up work and leadership roles, you will find them. But if you keep to yourself and stay quiet, you won’t,” she said. 

The cultural divide runs deep. Across Aurovillian society, there is a disconnect between English-fluent Western foreigners and elite-urban Aurovillians, and the local Tamil people descended from the bioregion and its villages. The predominant languages of communication, including newsletters, announcements,  meeting minutes,  and signage, were in English—a definite factor of exclusion. That’s despite Auroville’s history, and its reliance on local communities; labor from villages was required to make the land habitable and construct the Matrimandir. Villagers like Sathiya’s father, a welder, were incorporated into Aurovillian status for this exact reason. It also helped that the red tape and expenses at that point were minimal.

The Promise

“Auroville belongs to nobody in particular. Auroville belongs to humanity as a whole. But to live in Auroville, one must be a willing servitor of the Divine Consciousness.”

 — The Auroville Charter

Aurovillians cite education and employment in the bioregion as proof of progress. And indeed, without Auroville, women here would have stayed “slaves to their husbands” , Gayatri, 48, a housekeeper, said. With financial independence and respect, some have even left bad marriages. 

Shraddhanjali, a craft-making center (one of 700 units supporting the Auroville economy), is one such bright spot. Kausalya, 45, was in the eighth grade, cycling home to Koothur village one day when she came across a heart-shaped locket on the ground. Opening it, she found a photograph of two strangers in each half: the Mother and Aurobindo. A few years later she began work at Shradhanjali. For 30 years she has worked at the handicraft unit, gathering and pressing flowers, making ornaments and stationary. An interest-free loan of Rs 7 lakh against her salary has facilitated her children’s education. Her story is typical of the women working here who described it as a “close family.”

The nurturing of close ties have historically transcended human relationships at Auroville. Here, “every tree and insect is a gift,” as an old-time forester told me, speaking of the emotional and physical investment into forests in the early years. A recent casualty of land-exchanges has been parts of AuroOrchard , where Jasmin, a long-ago Swedish transplant cares for the cows. One evening under the dark canopy of Sadhana forest, she reflected aloud about why each tree cutting shook her. “Life here is fragile. A lot of the little satisfactions you get in cities are not present here. I am losing out on things by spending my life here—no money, no savings.”

There are over two dozen farms in the township of which the largest are Annapurna and AuroOrchard (both currently part of Foundation-led land exchanges). And there are 44 forests of which I spent time at: Forecomers, Revelation, Fertile, Sadhana, Pebble Garden among others, interviewing stewards, farm managers, hired workers, and volunteers. Arun P. Ambathy, an ex-army man who manages Revelation forest, described stewardship as a “legacy structure—land sequentially purchased in the early days was assigned to someone who protected and cultivated it. It was make-it-up-as-you-go like much of Auroville in its ‘pioneer’ days. Each forest and farm had its own steward—something the Foundation is possibly ushering out citing the yogic importance of “non-attachment.” 

The critical concept underpinning Auroville’s incredible reforestation is ecological succession. “When land is barren, the soil is sterile,” Arun said. “Once a little grass grows, with increasing density, the organic layer of the soil becomes deeper. Pioneer species (like the work tree, acacia) are planted first. These create the initial biomass while other work (fencing, soil, and water conservation) is undertaken. This supports the next stage (fast growing trees), and the next (climax forest—ebony, red sander). This final stage represents the maximum biodiversity and biomass, per unit of land.” To date, half a million saplings across 200 species of the native tropical dry evergreen forest have been planted in Auroville of which over half have reached maturity, leading to valuable carbon sequestration along with water conservation work. 

Overall the idea is to have a “purely ecological approach devoid of anthropocentric assessment,” Arun said. Simply put, land and species (plant, animal, insect) were not to be evaluated according to their utility for humans. Or as Deepika Kundaji, steward of Pebble Garden phrased it, “We found a method of working [towards reforestation] which is simply facilitating nature.”

“There are many good places in Auroville but it is of no use to me. Then also struggle, now also struggle. I’m stuck in one place.”

And yet, last year the new Governing Board suspended maintenance to all farms in Auroville, a move dissenting residents say was punishment for filing a court case against tree cutting towards construction of the Crown Road in the National Green Tribunal. (This verdict was stayed by the Supreme Court in December, as reported by the Times of India .) Removing maintenance means that farms have to pivot to support themselves through products like jams and dairy—something the Governing Board argues is necessary for sustainability. “But Annapurna was not for economics,” Tomas Tomassen, a steward, said. 

In Annapurna, I passed grazing cows, cheeping ducklings, and workers in rice fields with their saris hitched up to wade through water. The ducklings were an experiment to replace high-cost mechanical weeding and herbicide. “ They complain that only so many acres out of 130 under crop—they don’t understand that you need an environment to run an organic farm, ” said Tomas. “It’s not only about the crop; it’s about water bodies, forest areas, indigenous animals, all kinds of things you need to build an ecosystem. An organic farm is not a field, it’s a whole organism where everything has to be in balance. To build the city of the future they want to go directly to that route of low prices, minimum wages… but this doesn’t work. We have to invest and learn that food is costly .”  

Do you hope to live here for the rest of your life, I asked Tomas, who seemed to me as part of his farm as the cows and casuarina trees. The blue of the sky above Annapurna matched the blue of his eyes which matched the blue of the water in the paddy fields as he laughed, “ We somehow felt like in Auroville [having devoted our lives and savings] we will be taken care of. Yeah, that story’s over.”

The Struggle

Writing in her book Saving Time , Jenny Odell describes the inseparability of time and space, and the urgency of learning timefulness—a consciousness of how the world is made by and of time. This draws on indigenous worldviews as opposed to Western abstraction where time is “measured, bought, and sold.” By January, on Foundation orders, trees were being felled again in Revelation farm among others , where I had tracked butterflies; I recalled Arun describing its transition to climax-forest if we let it be for the next 150 years—a view fundamentally incompatible with the Foundation’s register of time.   

Scores of intentional communities have come and gone. Spurred by the climate crisis and failure of the capitalist home-ownership dream, an interest in communal eco-living has only increased. Research finds that enduring communities tend to have a deeper uniting ideology—often spiritual, like in Auroville. It’s crucial for experiments to have a mission. In this, Auroville is no different from organisations and companies that claim to be in the business of changing the world— particularly through a mindset of efficiency, like the Foundation.

I arrived in Auroville some 50 years after its founding, and stayed for a little under a month, reporting this story. Turning off the East Coast Road in Chennai, the car passed a Tamil funeral procession, with its drum beats loud like a beating heart, numerous tourist-trap stalls and guesthouses, and entered Auroville towards the Visitor’s Center. I adjusted myself to the rhythms of life there—quiet darkness by 6pm, the necessity of two wheels to get anywhere, Solar Kitchen, the communal dining hall for Aurovillians where you needed an Aurocard to eat. 

From the first evening I noticed that the service-class—the akkas at the guesthouse who cleaned and cooked and the anna who worked in the garden and did odd-jobs, ladies behind the counter in uniform at the Visitor’s Center boutique, the women behind the counter handling the mad rush at the cafes—were all Tamil locals from the neighboring villages. The customers, the relaxers, the bicyclers, the unit-owners—were largely white or Indians who had moved to Auroville from elsewhere. 

In Auro Orchard I asked Kumudha, like I asked every village-worker I interviewed, what she knew of Auroville. “Everyone is good and very sweet,” she replied. About 37 years ago her family sold 1.5 acres of land on which they cultivated groundnuts and toor-dal to Auroville for 2 lakh (land that today could be worth at least ten times that per the Guideline Value for Villupuram ). Now she works 7am to 5pm every day weeding, planting, and composting for Rs 250 per day. She needs an increase in salary which is not coming. Then why call Auroville sweet, I asked. She shook her head, “There are many good places in Auroville but it is of no use to me. Then also struggle, now also struggle. I’m stuck in one place,” she said.

Her answer stayed with me, as did the account of Kandan, a gardener whose alcoholic father had sold the 2 acres of family land to Auroville in the 1970s for Rs 10,000. Kandan wore a grey, holey T-shirt with a hot air balloon on it; his hands reflected a lifetime doing manual labor, growing gardens in Auroville. Did he regret anything, I asked. He laughed. “Yes, because I know how valuable that land is today,” he said. “Some people who sold their land a little later than us sold it for 30 lakh and today it’s worth crores. If I had any of our land left I would have lived a different life.”

To create something new we must break with the hierarchies of the past and be wary of ideologies we align ourselves with, lest we facilitate more of the same or worse—only this time wearing brown masks.

Thinking of the creation of a utopia or a model city, and its persistence— I am plagued by this question. Who moves here and who is made to leave? Who must stay “stuck?” Even as visas are revoked from foreign nationals, most still exit the country with the means to live elsewhere. 

The Secretary recommended I read Sri Aurobindo’s address at Uttarpara . It was clarifying on multiple counts, and surfaced a discomfort I felt repeatedly in my conversations there: many foreign Aurovillian’s limited understanding of the country they claimed as home and found synonymous with Hindu roots only. Auroville is beyond politics, they said, echoing the Mother—and yet the things dissenters complained of, like bulldozers, the reconstitution of key positions, disregard for participatory governance, an intolerance for questioning or transparency, and ease-of-business , are all familiar stories in the Narendra Modi’s Hindu-nationalist right-wing ‘New India’ (a common catchphrase of Modi and the BJP to suggest a new dawn for the country, implying that what came before was corrupt, colonial and anti-Hindu), as noted by NBC News. Coupled with the easy appropriation of Aurobindo’s teachings and the precedent set by a Hinduized corporate India in the last several years, it’s a dangerous combination in an electoral region not yet dominated by the BJP. 

What Auroville has offered until now, for a certain kind of person, is the chance to do it yourself. For someone who hungers to work with their hands—for whom it is a choice—Auroville is perfect. 

Every day I was in bed by nine and up by seven in the morning like magic. I achieved perfect stillness. I roamed around in the dark on a bicycle, mostly unafraid, breathing clean air, eyes resting on green forest and following butterflies. I let myself be rescued repeatedly by passersby when I crashed and fell (they shrugged off my thanks saying it’s Auroville ). I watched beautiful films at a single-screen theatre. On my last day I spent 40 minutes suspended in silence and felt intensely and unbearably connected to everyone else in the room with me, sitting in two concentric circles in the inner chamber of the Matrimandir. 

Everyone deserves this, I thought. The dream of utopia matters—our attempts to build a better world are vital. But to create something new we must break with the hierarchies of the past and be wary of ideologies we align ourselves with, lest we facilitate more of the same or worse—only this time wearing brown masks. After all—what languages do our model cities speak? What labor practices are employed to grow our food? And, crucially, who gets to decide what the Earth needs? 

At Auroville, the reckoning sees older Aurovilians be ushered out like “invasive” karuvel trees—acacia—by a neoliberal government weaponizing a convenient narrative of decolonization. YouTube onlookers cheered with comments like: “Decolonization of Auroville is under way. Self respecting Indians welcome this” and “In the name of Mother, Europeans are living a comfortable life here.” Meanwhile, laborers remain “stuck.”  I think back to my conversations with Kumudha, with Gayatri and Kausalya, about how Auroville’s transformation required them to serve a vision that has in some ways excluded them. Now as Auroville is gutted in service of yet another model city that overlooks class and caste inequities, as well as environmental regulations, it’s hard to see how India, let alone the Earth, might need this. 

Editor’s Note: The reporting for this article involved interviews with, among other sources, 60 people living and working in Auroville, among them Aurovillians, Newcomers, Volunteers workers from neighbouring villages, farm-workers, farm-managers, foresters, people associated with the Working Committee and the Secretary’s Office, people associated with the Residents Assembly, and their elected Working Committee. This account also draws on readings of the 1988 Foundation Act, the National Green Tribunal judgement ,and associated petitions in the Madras High Court, the News and Notes bulletin, as well as social media accounts, and a number of books on Auroville written by academics and residents.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions of the persons interviewed by the Author, expressed in this article or comments thereof, do not necessarily reflect or represent the views of the Editor, Author or the Magazine. The extracts taken from other sources have been specifically acknowledged and represent their views and conclusions. Due to the social nature of this Article the images / photographs / and the representations of the same may contain content copyrighted by another entity or person; While due permissions have been obtained, some photographs may also contain images of such persons without the express written permission of those included within the images. The photographer / author / editor /magazine claims no copyright to the said content. If you find your content is being used incorrectly, please contact the Editor prior to making a copyright claim and any claim for infringement will be rectified to the satisfaction of the concerned parties.

Correction, February 13, 2024 7:13 am ET This story has been updated to clarify the circumstances of foreign nationals trying to exit the country. Most are able to exit India with the means to live elsewhere, not all. The story has also been updated to clarify that they are not all able to live well.

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Last updated: 29 Aug, 2024

• Auroville in Brief

What is Auroville?

Auroville is a universal township in the making for a population of up to 50,000 people from around the world.

How did Auroville begin?

The concept of Auroville - an ideal township devoted to an experiment in human unity - came to the Mother as early as the 1930s. In the mid 1960s the concept was developed and put before the Govt. of India, who gave their backing and took it to the General Assembly of UNESCO. In 1966 UNESCO passed a unanimous resolution commending it as a project of importance to the future of humanity , thereby giving their full encouragement.

Why Auroville?

The purpose of Auroville is to realise human unity – in diversity. Today Auroville is recognised as the first and only internationally endorsed ongoing experiment in human unity and transformation of consciousness , also concerned with - and practically researching into - sustainable living and the future cultural , environmental , social and spiritual needs of mankind.

When did Auroville start?

On 28th February, 1968, some 5,000 people assembled near the banyan tree at the centre of the future township for an inauguration ceremony attended by representatives of 121 nations, including all the States of India. The representatives brought with them some soil from their homeland, to be mixed in a white marble- clad, lotus-shaped urn, now sited at the focal point of the Amphitheatre. At the same time the Mother gave Auroville its 4-point Charter .

Where is Auroville?

Auroville is located in south India , mostly in the State of Tamil Nadu (some parts are in the State of Puducherry), a few kilometres inland from the Coromandel Coast, approx 150 kms south of Chennai (previously Madras) and 10 kms north of the town of Puducherry.

Who are the Aurovilians?

They come from some 60 nations, from all age groups (from infancy to over eighty, averaging around 30), from all social classes, backgrounds and cultures, representing humanity as a whole. The population of the township is constantly growing, but currently stands at around 3,500 people, of whom approximately one-third are Indian.

Overview of the city plan

At the centre of the township lies the Peace Area, comprising the  Matrimandir  and its gardens, the amphitheatre with the Urn of Human Unity that contains the soil of 121 nations and 23 Indian states, and the project of a lake to help create an atmosphere of calm and serenity and to serve as a groundwater recharge area.

Industrial Zone

A 109-hectare area to the north of the Peace Area, the Industrial Zone, a zone for "green" industries, is focused on Auroville's efforts towards a self-supporting township. It will contain small and medium-scale  industries , training centres, arts and crafts, and the city's administration.

Residential Zone

The largest of the four city zones, comprising of 189 hectares, the Residential Zone is bordered by parks on the north, south and west. Main access to the zone will be through the crown road with further traffic distribution via five radial roads that divide the zone into sectors of increasing densities. This zone wants to provide a well-adjusted habitat between individual and collective living. 55% of the area will be green and only 45% built surface, thereby creating an urban density balanced by nature.

International Zone

The  International Zone , a zone of 74 hectares to the west of the Peace Area, will host national and cultural pavilions, grouped by continents. Its central focus is to create a living demonstration of human unity in diversity through the expression of the genius and contribution of each nation to humanity

Cultural Zone

Planned on a 93-hectare area, situated to the east of the Peace Area, the  Cultural Zone  will be a site for applied research in education and artistic expression. Facilities for cultural, educational, art and sports activities will be located in this zone.

The city area with a radius of 1.25 km. will be surrounded by a  Green Belt  of 1.25 km width. As a zone for  organic farms , dairies, orchards, forests, and  wildlife  areas, this belt will act as a barrier against urban encroachment, provide a variety of habitats for wildlife, and serve as a source for food, timber, medicines etc. and as a place for recreation.

Presently an area of 405 hectares, the Green Belt - though incomplete - stands as an example of successful  transformation of wasteland into a vibrant eco-system . Its further planned extension with an additional 800 hectares will make it into a remarkable demonstration site for soil and water conservation, ground water recharge, and environmental restoration. As lungs for the entire township, it will complete the healing process that Auroville started several decades ago.

For more information, please write to [email protected]

Towards Human Unity

Auroville - A to Z

Land and Nature

The City the Earth Needs

Related Contents

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• 3 Core Documents
• A New Economic Model
• Vision of the City
• Soul of the City
• Integral Yoga
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• Planning & Architecture
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• Education & Research
• Sustainable Development
• Health & Wellness
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• Auroville - City Of Dawn In Tamil Nadu, India

The Auroville-City of Dawn, tucked away in the Tamil Nadu State of India , is an experimental international community. The township was founded by human unity, spiritualism, sustainable living, harmony, and peace. While some view the experimental township as a Utopia made into reality, others think it to be akin to a cult. The township has attracted a large foreign population and is a major tourist destination in India.

5. Description and History -

Auroville (City of Dawn) is an experimental and universal township situated in the state of Tamil Nadu, near Pondicherry in India. The township was intended to host up to 50,000 inhabitants from all over the world. Currently, the settlement is home to nearly 2,500 people, mostly Indians, French, Germans, and Italians. The township aims at human unity, where people from different places live in peace and harmony and devoid of nationality, religion, caste or politics.

The township started with a vision by Mirra Alfassa, also known as Mother. Mother was an ally of Sri Aurobindo, with whom she collaborated in the quest for spirituality and higher consciousness. She envisioned a township founded on human unity regardless of color, gender, nationality, religion, or race. The township was designed by Roger Anger, a French architect and started in 1968 with the approval of India's government and UNESCO. UNESCO has facilitated the township's protection since its inauguration.

4. Global Recognition-

Auroville is recognized as the only internationally approved and continuing experiment in human unity, diversity, and transformation of consciousness. At the township's inauguration, 124 nations were represented by delegates. The township is also renowned for its efforts in environmental sustainability through green practices. Auroville is recognized as a blueprint for the future of humanity.

3. Unique Ways of Life -

The residents of Auroville live a basic life and collectively contribute to the township's sustenance. No single individual owns anything in the township, which has been working towards a cashless economy. Politics and religion are not practiced, rather, the inhabitants engage in meditation and spiritualism. The residents live as part of community and practice organic living.

2. Economy and Governance -

The inhabitants of Auroville engage in a variety of economic activities such as agriculture, Information & Technology, education, and commerce. The township's economic projects provide employment for inhabitants of the surrounding villages. The Auroville Foundation owns most assets of the township.

The Township is governed by three bodies. The Governing Board which is the highest authority and the International Advisory Council have their members chosen by the government. The third body, the Resident's Assembly, is made up of all the official residents of the community.

1. Threats and Criticisms-

Auroville has not yet realized its vision of human unity, as tensions exist between Indians and a large number of foreigners. Management of the community has been a source of conflict between the Sri Aurobindo Society and the government. The vision for the community to be devoid of politics and greed has subsequently been compromised.

The township has been criticized for being a form of self-indulgent escapism, where people uproot their existing lives to move to the community.

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Top 10 Experimental Towns and Communes

The notion of a utopia—a perfect, egalitarian, and harmonious paradise on Earth—has been a recurring theme in literature and storytelling for hundreds of years. It all started with the philosopher Plato’s book Republic, and it’s since been expressed in other books including Thomas More’s Utopia and Edward Bellamy’s Looking Backward, as well as in films like Lost Horizon and Things to Come . All this discussion of an ideal and peaceful society has encouraged many people to try and bring these ideas into reality through spiritual communes and new forms of community organization. Whether or not any of the following ten examples actually succeeded is definitely up for debate, but there’s no denying that they work as some interesting experiments in formulating new ways of living.

10. Arcosanti

In the desert 70 miles north of Phoenix lies Arcosanti, an experimental town built in 1970 that claims to be an attempt to discover the perfect fusion of architecture and ecology. As imagined by architectural mastermind Paolo Soleri, all the buildings within the city are designed so that they and the people who live in them can work in harmony with their environment. With this in mind, many buildings at the site are multi-use, and all make use of solar power for heating, cooling, and electricity. Arcosanti itself is less of a community than it is a school. Workshops are held throughout the year in order to teach people how to build in Soleri’s unique style, and it is these students—along with the 50 or so teachers who make up the town’s permanent population—who have constructed most of the buildings on the 25-acre site. image: http://www.chromasomatic.com

Community Philosophy:

At the heart of Arcosanti’s philosophy is a strong belief in teaching people to live smarter. The community is meant to serve as an example of how urban centers could run more cheaply and efficiently with just a few design adjustments. For example, many of the buildings at the site are made to reflect the changing seasons, so that a maximum amount of sunlight is allowed in during the winter and a minimum amount during the summer. Meanwhile, the planning of the city itself avoided a typical grid layout in favor of a more courtyard-oriented style, which the residents say encourages community interaction.

9. Auroville

One of the hallmarks of these experimental communities is an emphasis on love and peace, usually as filtered through a heavy dose of new age philosophy. Auroville, a multicultural city in southern India, is a perfect example. Since its inception, the town has worked to realize what its website calls “human unity” and the “transformation of consciousness.” The colony was started in the late sixties by Sri Aurobindo and Mirra Richard, and its central philosophy is a belief that society will learn to progress forward only after people of many nations and cultures have learned to live together in harmony. The community works to act as a miniature experiment in world peace. Its over 2,000 residents hail from more than 40 different nations , and they all live and work together with a mind toward finding new and unique ways to achieve balance and harmony among people of different races, religions, and political backgrounds.

Residents of Auroville are expected to build their own house and make donations to the community fund, but beyond this all necessities—including public school, utilities, and health care—are covered by the community, which is itself partially financed by the Indian government. There is no form of hard currency within the commune; rather, all residents use an account system that connects to a central bank. The city is designed in the shape of a circle, around which are areas containing gardens, farmland, an educational and cultural center, and a so-called “peace area” where silence is enforced at all times.

8. Findhorn Ecovillage

Scotland’s Findhorn Ecovillage is perhaps the most notable example of a community founded on principles of environmental sustainability and renewable energy. The commune was started in the 1960s, but it didn’t take on its current form until 1982, when residents made a concerted effort to show that an environmentally unobtrusive community could flourish both socially and economically. The village still exists today, and has been noted as having the smallest environmental footprint of any town in the modern world. This is thanks to an ecologically friendly building code that encourages the use of found materials—several houses are built from recycled whiskey barrels— along with wind turbines and a water treatment apparatus called the “Living Machine,” which makes use of algae, snails, and plant life to purify the community’s water supply.

Part of Findhorn’s intended commitment to sustainability is an emphasis on autonomy. The village’s 350 residents have their own school, arts center, and businesses, which include everything from printmaking to pottery. There is even an independent currency, called the Eko, which is accepted at all community businesses. Beyond its ecological goals, the village has also gained a reputation—to some controversy —for espousing a new age philosophy of spiritualism and holistic health. Findhorn offers retreats that claim to assist in achieving sound mental health, and the organization has even put out a therapeutic board game that it claims can be “a substantial way of understanding and transforming key issues in your life.”

7. Pullman, Illinois

Though these communities are always started with the very best of intentions, sometimes the line between utopia and dystopia can get a little blurry. Such was the case with Pullman, Illinois, a company town that started as its own workers’ paradise and gradually degraded into an outright dictatorship. The town was conceived by George Pullman, a powerful industrialist who’d made his fortune building ornate and expensive sleeping cars for passenger trains. In 1880, Pullman purchased several thousand acres of land on the outskirts of Chicago with a mind toward building a new factory. Thinking that he could also satisfy his workers by giving them a nice, safe place to live, Pullman had his architect design a miniature town around the factory. The town featured elaborate Victorian architecture and included its own school, shopping centers, theatre, library, church, and even a man-made lake.

For the first few years, the town of Pullman seemed to be a remarkable success. It was used as an exhibit at the Chicago World’s Fair, and it regularly won awards for being one of the best places to live in the country. But beneath its quaint exterior, Pullman was hiding a dark secret. Most troubling of all was that George Pullman ran the town like a despot. He banned certain business (like saloons) from opening nearby, forbade the town from starting an independent newspaper, and regularly had inspectors search through employees’ homes for signs of damage or lack of cleanliness. Employees often protested his baron-like behavior, but they had no recourse, since the town and all its 1400 structures were entirely owned by the company. When he lowered wages in 1894, things quickly turned violent, and a large-scale strike in Pullman had to broken up by the military . In the wake of this incident, the government looked into the legality of the town of Pullman and deemed it “un-American.” It was then broken up and later annexed by the city of Chicago.

6. The Harmony Society Communities

Religious utopian communities were all the rage in the 1800s, and the communes started by the Harmony Society are some of the most famous examples. The society formed in Germany in the late 1700s, but their mystical take on Christianity soon drew the ire of the Lutheran Church.  A group led by Johann Georg Rapp immigrated to the Pennsylvania in 1803, and it was there that they decided to establish the first of what would eventually be three independent communes. Their Pennsylvania settlement, called Harmony, proved incredibly successful, and it eventually boasted a population of over 800 followers. The residents sold the land for a profit after ten years and started a new commune in Indiana, but they returned to Pennsylvania in 1824 and formed a third commune, which they called Economy.

The Harmony Society’s theosophist religious convictions meant that they had very strict behavioral codes. Chief among them were strong beliefs in temperance, celibacy, and equality. Members rejected worldly possessions, eschewed sexual relationships—including marriage, to a certain extent—and practiced nonviolence. Rapp acted as the community’s resident prophet, and made several predictions about the imminent return of Jesus to the Earth. When his predictions didn’t come true, many members abandoned the community, but it managed to survive well until after Rapp’s death in 1847. Economy, PA finally dissolved in the early 1900s, both because of an ever mounting debt and because the residents’ celibacy guaranteed that there was no new generation left to take over.

5. The Federation of Damanhur

Named after an ancient Egyptian city, the Federation of Damanhur is a utopian commune located outside of Turin, Italy. It was started in the ‘70s by Oberto Airaudi and a small group of followers, and today it counts as many as 800 citizens among its ranks. There are even offshoot centers for the group located as far away as the U.S. and Japan . The community refers to itself as a “collective dream” where “spiritual, artistic, and social research” takes place. The group prizes environmental sustainability, artistic expression, and optimism above all else, and meditation and self-knowledge are considered fundamental to personal growth.  But while this philosophy might not seem extraordinary, the way it is expressed certainly is. This was most apparent in 1992, when the group revealed a series of striking underground temples—supposedly a monument to peace and the power of human collaboration—that they had been constructing since the late ‘70s.

Damanhur, though not sovereign from Italy, operates as though it were its own independent nation. There is a constitution, a currency called “credito,” and an independent infrastructure, and at this point there are even grown children who were born in the community and have lived there all their life. Perhaps most interesting is the community’s style of marriage, which works on a contract system. Prior to their wedding, couples decide on a period of time that the marriage will last. Once that period has elapsed, the two can either go their separate ways or agree to renew the marriage for a new span of time.

4. The Farm

Communal living experienced a renaissance with the rise of the hippie movement, when thousands of young people dropped out of society and attempted to form independent, utopian communities. The biggest and most notable of them all is certainly a town in Summerton, Tennessee known only as “The Farm.” The town was the brainchild of Stephen Gaskin, a creative writing teacher from San Francisco who led a caravan of cars and busses across the country to Tennessee, where they bought a 1,000-acre tract of land on a former cattle ranch. The Farm soon became legendary in underground culture, and as new members journeyed to Tennessee from around the country, the community soon grew into a miniature metropolis of tents and log cabins. By 1980, there were over 1,000 people living at the Farm.

In the early days, residents of The Farm took a “vow of poverty” and swore off tobacco, alcohol, and all animal products. All possessions were communal, and residents regularly engaged in group marriages. These restrictions have since loosened, but the community still maintains a steadfast devotion to vegetarianism and environmentally friendly living, and today it works as an ecovillage where all power is generated through solar panels and biofuels. It also has an acclaimed school of midwifery, a book publishing company, and a grade school. Residents have even spearheaded a number of different charitable endeavors around the world. The community went through some tough time in the 80s, and many of the original members abandoned it, but it’s still around today, and as many as 175 people live and work there year round.

3. Israeli Kibbutzim

The term “kibbutz” doesn’t refer to one specific community, but rather to a form of experimental living that became popular in Israel in the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries. The term itself can be translated as “gathering,” and it’s used to describe the numerous cooperative communes that were founded by Jewish immigrants in Palestine prior to the creation of Israel. Many came to the Middle East from Russia to be pioneer farmers, and they chose to live collectively because it allowed for greater safety and a more efficient way of growing crops. Most kibbutzim had about 200 members, and by 1950 there were as many as 60,000 people living in the communes all across Israel. The communities were originally started purely as Jewish farming ventures, but by the ‘30s many had taken on a socialist philosophy, and some of the kibbutzim with more utopian goals began to allow people of all religions to join.

A key philosophy of these kibbutzim was a devotion to equality. All major decisions were made communally in group meetings. Women were seen as equals to men, and were even required to serve as armed guards at times. There were no personal possessions—not even clothing—and even children were considered to belong to the community at large. Most grew up living with one another in their own communal house, and they spent little time with their parents outside of community activities. After the formation of Israel and the rise of capitalism, many of these values began to be replaced by more modern, individualistic tendencies. Today, most kibbutzim have become private enterprises, and farming has largely been abandoned. Despite this decline, there are still as many as 125,000 people—about 3% of the total population—currently living in kibbutz-style communes all over Israel.

2. Oneida Colony

New York’s Oneida Colony community was started in 1848 by John Humphrey Noyes, a practitioner of a sect of Christianity he called Perfectionism, which stated that Christ had already returned and it was the people who had to build paradise on Earth. The community started as a small group of about 80 people, but this number had doubled within a few years, and by 1880 there were as many as 350 people of all ages living at Oneida. The group had a small plot of land, but its primary base of operations was a 92,000 square foot mansion house, where all the members lived and worked communally.

Oneida worked under a pseudo-socialist style wherein each member would work to the degree that they were able. Women were afforded more freedom than was common at the time, and all possessions were communal. Noyes instituted a strange program of character improvement where each member of the group was regularly brought before a committee and told their personal flaws, which they were expected to fix. As a rule, monogamy was forbidden within Oneida. Instead, the community engaged in a “complex marriage” system where each member was effectively “married” to everyone else. Strong attachments to a single person were discouraged, and members of the commune would regularly trade out sexual partners throughout the course of the week. This included young people, who were supposedly “initiated” into the program by an elder member of the opposite sex. These practices proved to be Oneida’s undoing, as Noyes was forced to flee the country in 1879 in order to escape charges of statutory rape. Without his more-than-questionable guidance, the community soon broke apart.

1. Brook Farm

Massachusetts’s Brook Farm community only lasted for five years, and was a conclusive failure in nearly every way. But it remains one of the most notable experimental communities of the 1800s, if only because of the many famous people who were associated with it.  The town was started by George and Sophia Ripley in 1841. The couple subscribed to the transcendental philosophy espoused by poets and thinkers like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, and they based their community on these ideals. The basic idea was that by pooling their labor efforts, a society could eliminate the drudgery of work and have time engage in intellectual pursuits and leisure activities. The Ripleys raised money through a joint stock company that counted Nathaniel Hawthorne among its investors, and after buying several acres of farmland outside of Boston, put their experiment into action.

In the beginning, Brook Farm worked around a policy of personal freedom and equality. Members were allowed to choose what kind of work they wanted to do, and special time was set aside for leisure and intellectual study. Women enjoyed much greater equality than was common at that time. Not only were they paid the same as the men, but they were considered autonomous from their husbands and were allowed to be shareholders in the community at large. The commune tried to self-sustain by farming, opening a school, and selling goods like clothing, but they were never able to fully get out of debt. These financial troubles, along with Ripley’s inability to get luminaries like Emerson or Thoreau (who visited many times) to become permanent members, eventually led to the adoption of a more rigid, socialistic philosophy. Against the wishes of many of the members, the community had soon adopted more rules and social guidelines. When a massive communal house caught fire and burned halfway through construction, Brook Farm fell into even more debt, and in 1846 it dissolved for good.

21 Comments

Was doing research for a personal interest and would like information please.

I need to get to a community that excepts me for who I am

international trade is part of food, food is a government service, no wonder we are in so much debt when we are a free country adding immigration to the table. We are built and founded on earth, and a cooperative method is all part of civilization. We are free to belong and be, coping together is where a true nation finds heritage. Protection is a mission statement of law officials to their citizens. I long for a community with such standards that cooperation resides in our hearts to help sustain one another for means of survival especially women and children… Tell me of such a place and I will shoot a resume to cook, clean, and reside among others within the horticulture of the mind… 🙂

Are there Eugenicist communities?

To all who are looking for or beginning your own communities, I believe the most comprehensive site to find modern day communities world wide is http://www.ic.org . Also, http://www.thefec.org is great if you’re specifically looking for egalitarian income-sharing communities.

Great list. I visited Israel and could see the excellent Kibbutz. Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore(AP),India

we want to get opermission to do funding as shate exemption status for volunteering for the group books articles photos journals for the group to get extra funding as concerts art show music show chemical shows, magic shows. send e mail to above thanks

I am looking for commune somewhere out in the western part of America. My interests are: straw bale homes, Gardening with an emphasis to harvesting seeds, canning and drying the produce. I want to get back to a simpler way of living where conflicts are resolved with love rather than a mandate. Am I dreaming or does something like this even exist? Let me know. Let love abound, to see yourself in others.

Hi Will, Just had to reply to your comment above…you just seem like a mirror of myself, except I’m looking for the same thing in the Northeast! LOL! Good luck, brother, you definitely sound like a man on the right track. Best wishes, Larry.

How could you have left off Jim Jones and his colony of Jonestown, Guyana? This was one of the most controversial moments in history and the man was influenced by disturbing theories.

He made this list of top 10 Dangerous Cults .

The list is extremely incomplete as evidenced by the comments here. How could the list have failed to include the Amana Colony in Iowa? The missing elements in this list may be more important then the listed items. Is this just more corporatist propaganda?

Corporatist propaganda? I think you give this site far more credit than it deserves. I promise you, I have no corporatist agendas. I do find it amusing how much importance people place on a simple top 10 list.

Very illustrative article on COMMUNES. I visited Israel and saw the excellent KIBBUTTZ.

I have a novel project for Indian Rural Youth. In India millions of hectares of vacant land/waste land is idle. Thanks to ‘nature’ we have fast growing plants which can be put to multiple uses. There is Agave which can be used in Biofuel production. Mexico is pioneer in this. Biofuel can be produced from Agave. Oxford University study (attached) on agave-to-ethanol: http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content … “The sustainability of large-scale biofuel production has recently been called into question in view of mounting concerns over the associated impact on land and water resources. As the most predominant biofuel today, ethanol produced from food crops such as corn in the US has been frequently criticised. Ethanol derived from cellulosic feeds tocks is likely to overcome some of these drawbacks, but the production technology is yet to be commercialised. Sugarcane ethanol is the most efficient option in the short term, but its success in Brazil is difficult to replicate elsewhere. Agaves are attracting attention as potential ethanol feeds tocks because of their many favorable characteristics such as high productivities and sugar content and their ability to grow in naturally water-limited environments. Here, we present the first life cycle energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) analysis for agave-derived ethanol. The results suggest that ethanol derived from agave is likely to be superior, or at least comparable, to that from corn, switch grass and sugarcane in terms of energy and GHG balances, as well as in ethanol output and net GHG offset per unit land area. Our analysis highlights the promising opportunities for bioenergy production from agaves in arid or semi-arid regions with minimum pressure on food production and water resources. “[…] the emissions of agave-derived fuel are estimated to stand at around 35g of CO2 per megajoule from field-to-wheel, compared to the 85g/MJ emitted when making corn ethanol.”

Dr Tan and his colleagues found this energy balance is five units to one. “This compares favorably to the highly efficient sugarcane, and to the less efficient corn as a source of biofuel. It also compares favorably to sugarcane-derived ethanol for its ability to offset greenhouse gas emissions, which we calculated at 7.5 tons of CO2e per hectare per year – taking into account the crop’s complete lifecycle”

Agave(Americana),Sisal Agave is a multiple use plant which has 10% fermentable sugars and rich in cellulose. The fibre is used in rope making and also for weaving clothes in Philippines under the trade name DIP-DRY. In Brazil a paper factory runs on sisal as input. A Steroid HECOGENIN is extracted from this plant leaves. Since on putrification,it produces methane gas, it can be cut and used as input in biogas plants. Also in Kenya and Lesotho dried pieces of Agave are mixed with concrete since it has fibres which act as binding.

There is OPUNTIA which is also care free growth plant and biogas can be generated from this.

Each Rural Youth (with agricultural background) can be allotted about 5 hectares of vacant land and 10 such youth can form a YOUTH CO-OPERATIVES (Youth Economic Zones on the lines of Special Economic Zones). They can grow fast growing plants like Agave, Opuntia and Jatropha. Banks can lend resources for these projects.

Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore (AP), India E-mail: [email protected]

A single mother looking for a comune. My boyfriend ask me if I wanted to live in a commune but No we need to look for one. Please help me. I hate what this world has become and i dont want my children living in it. my boyfriend and I are looking for a home but it needs to be a great place. where we are at it is not safe for us or the children.

That’s a good question and I wa wondering something similar, as well. Is there a list or finder somewhere that can help find like-minded communities that are based on more than religious values? Would it be easier to start one of your own?

What about Freetown Christiania?

Post, Texas created by Post (i.e. Post Toasties). In west Texas……if you’ve ever been there you wonder “what the hell was he thinking”.

You didn't cover the Rugby community in Tennessee (northwest of Knoxville). See http://www.historicrugby.org/

You did not mention the Free State Project !!

Great list!

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

In the worlds jungle

A travel blog exploring architecture, history & culture.

What is Auroville? Exploring an unique mystical city in southern India

Nestled deep in the southern part of India , there lies a city that is unlike any other. Auroville , also known as the City of Dawn, is an international community that was established in 1968. What sets this city apart is its way of life and its principles that are based on the idea of human unity. Auroville attracts people from all walks of life; travellers, yogis, backpackers, and even volunteers who want to make a difference in the world. In this blog post, I’ll explain why Auroville is unique and why you should definitely add it to your travel bucket list.

Table of Contents

What is Auroville?

Auroville, also known as the “City of Dawn,” is a unique experimental community that was founded in 1968 by Mirra Alfessa. The goal of Auroville is to create a place where people from all over the world can come together in harmony and work towards a common goal – human unity. At its core, Auroville is an experiment in human consciousness and an attempt to transcend the limitations of nation, religion, and culture.

The idea of Auroville originated from the teachings of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. Sri Aurobindo was an Indian philosopher, yogi, and nationalist who believed that spirituality and material progress were not incompatible. Born in Paris, France, The Mother was drawn to India by Sri Aurobindo’s teachings and became his close associate. Together, they articulated a vision for a new way of life that would harmonize spirituality and science.

The community members called Mirra “The Mother”. Her message about Auroville was:

“Auroville wants 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”. Alfassa believed that the township would contribute significantly in the “progress of humanity towards its splendid future by bringing together people of goodwill and aspiration for a better world” .

What makes Auroville so unique?

The uniqueness of Auroville lies in its approach to community living. Aurovillians, as the residents of Auroville are called, are committed to working towards the development of a more sustainable future. To achieve this, they experiment with various techniques and practices such as organic farming, renewable energy, natural architecture, and sustainable living. Another unique aspect of Auroville is its governance structure, which operates on a model of participatory democracy. All decisions are made through a participatory process, and all residents have an equal say in the decision-making process.

Sustainable living

One of the most unique aspects of Auroville is its emphasis on sustainability. Residents of the city have taken on a challenge to live in harmony with nature, and they’re leading a successful mission to protect the environment. There are several eco-friendly initiatives taking place in the city such as using solar power, recycling waste, and practicing organic farming. Auroville’s efforts towards sustainability are truly admirable and it’s a place where you can learn a great deal about living a sustainable lifestyle.

A Cultural Melting Pot

Auroville may be situated in India, but it’s a place where all nationalities come together. The city was founded by Mirra Alfassa, also known as ‘The Mother’, who envisioned a world of unity and no boundaries. Residents of Auroville come from all over the world and there are more than 50 different nationalities represented. The city celebrates various cultural traditions and people speak different languages. It’s a fantastic opportunity to learn about different ways of life and cultures from around the world.

Spiritual Haven

For many people, Auroville is a spiritual sanctuary where they can explore their spiritual side. Founded on the principles of yoga and spirituality, Auroville is a place where people can practice various forms of meditation, yoga, and alternative therapies. The city has several places of worship inspired by different religions such as the Matrimandir which is a meditation centre dedicated to the unity of mankind. Auroville is a place where you can take time to nourish your spirit and connect with like-minded individuals.

If you are interested in the history and culture of Auroville, then be sure to visit its Visitor’s Centre. The Centre houses a museum that showcases the community’s history and evolution, as well as a gallery that features the work of local artists and artisans. You can also pick up souvenirs and handicrafts made by Auroville residents.

A Unique Architectural Marvel

The architecture of Auroville is inspired by the ancient Vedic principles of cosmic geometry, which emphasize the relationship between the human body and the universe. As a result, the buildings in Auroville are designed to harmonize with the natural surroundings and to foster a sense of spiritual connection. For example, the Matrimandir, which is a stunning golden dome that serves as the town’s central meeting place, is built on a geometric pattern that represents the human chakra system.

Another remarkable feature of architecture in Auroville is the construction of earth-based buildings. These structures are not only eco-friendly but are designed to withstand earthquakes. The technique used here is called stabilised rammed earth, where soil mixed with cement stabilizer is packed into wooden frames poured into one-meter high layers. Each layer is then compacted to make the structure very stable. These structures are unique in the sense that it’s difficult to distinguish between the exterior and the interior as the materials used in construction blend with the surroundings.

One of the most impressive structures in Auroville is the Visitor’s Centre, which showcases the town’s unique architecture and sustainable practices. The building is made entirely from locally sourced materials and features a thatched roof and rammed earth walls. Besides being a beautiful example of eco-friendly architecture, the Centre also hosts several exhibits and workshops on sustainable living and organic farming.

Auroville’s architecture is not only impressive but also serves a practical purpose. The town is situated in a region prone to natural disasters like cyclones and earthquakes, and the buildings are designed to withstand these events. For example, the Auroville Health Centre is built on a system of columns that allows it to sway during an earthquake, reducing the risk of the building collapsing.

A Place to Make a Difference

Auroville is more than just a tourist destination- it’s a place where you can make a meaningful contribution to society. The city operates on the principle of community work, everyone who lives there is expected to contribute to the community in some way. Volunteers from around the world come to Auroville to offer their skills and time to help the community. There are several organizations and initiatives in Auroville that work towards improving the quality of life for the community and beyond.

What can you do at Auroville?

A visit to Auroville is a must-do experience if you’re travelling to India. There are plenty of things to do and see at Auroville, and the best way to explore the community is by taking a guided tour. Some of the popular things to do at Auroville include meditation sessions, yoga classes, cultural events, and workshops on sustainable living. If you’re interested in volunteering, you can also participate in various projects such as organic farming, renewable energy, handicrafts, and education.

Where is Auroville?

Auroville, mostly located in Tamil Nadu, is a township nestled 150km south of Chennai and 10km north of Pondicherry. It’s a breeze to explore Auroville on a day trip from Pondicherry – you can hop on a bus or opt for a more convenient rickshaw or taxi ride. If you’re heading to or from Chennai, make sure to take a break and visit the captivating monuments of Mahabalipuram .

India travel posts

Discover captivating destinations in India! Immerse yourself in the vibrant cities of Rajasthan and explore the stunning beaches of western India . Need more inspiration? Uncover the historical wonders of Hampi , marvel at Kochi’s colonial architecture , experience the vibrant city of Delhi , or journey to the enchanting UNESCO village of Mahabalipuram . Short on time? Embark on a virtual picture tour of India .

Planning your first trip to India? Dive into the comprehensive Beginners Travel Guide India and kickstart your travel research. For a deeper understanding of Indian culture and Hinduism, delve into the captivating pages of The Beginners Guide to Indian Culture and Hinduism .

Hola, I’m Adriana Machielsen, a restless wanderer, travel writer and creator of In the worlds jungle . I’m Dutch but been living in Antwerp in Belgium for the last 11 years. I have a passion for slow travel, hiking, exploring history and architecture, and understanding cultures different from my own.

These passions are reflected in the articles I write here at In the worlds jungle (ITWJ). I’m not a full-time traveller and work as freelancer (copy) writer and private tour guide in Belgium. Through my website, I try to inspire you to explore new destinations and provide you with in-depth articles that hopefully improve your travel experience. Happy travels.

This Post Has 2 Comments

Dear Adriana, I enjoyed the explanation while reading about this oasis of peace and harmony. I travelled in my mind with your text. I live at the southern part of Europe in Crete, Greece. Job is not stable thus I can not travel that far yet. I find your text informative and attractive. Keep on going 😉 best, Dusanka

Hi Dusanka,

Thank you for the great compliment and I’m very happy you liked the article. Living in Crete must be amazing. I have seen many beautiful pictures of Crete. I’m sorry to hear your job is unstable at this moment. I know all about it. But you never kwow what the future will bring. Perhaps one day you will be able to travel to India and all the sacrifices will be worth it. I promise you. I wish you a good day Dusanka and a great weekend.

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The Fascinating Story of the ‘City of Dawn’, Auroville

Founded in 1968 by Mirra Alfassa, also known as ‘The Mother’, Auroville is an experimental township or a universal town. Designed by famous architect Roger Anger, Auroville is a must-visit attraction of Puducherry where people of different nationalities, cultures, and beliefs live together in harmony.

SNS | New Delhi | January 22, 2022 7:26 pm

Auroville (photo: stock)

India’s most popular experimental township/community is often considered one of the destinations to visit within Puducherry, with many spending less than a day here. However, in recent years, Auroville and the areas around it have come into their own as a standalone offbeat destination that deserves more than just a passing visit. While visiting the Auroville township requires prior permission, the town around it too is now home to several great attractions.

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In French, ‘ Aurore ‘ means dawn and ‘ Ville ‘ means city.

One of the major highlights of Auroville is the Matrimandir, a modern structure with a high significance for integral Yoga practitioners. Matrimandir has a lotus-shaped dome almost 30 meters high and is covered by golden discs that reflect sunlight. Prior bookings are required for visiting or for a concentration session (meditation) at the Matrimandir. First-time visitors are given a tour of the Matrimandir, along with a background on its history and importance.

Auroville Bakery and Boulangerie is one of the most popular food joints in the region and is open to visitors without prior permission. Everything on the menu is made purely out of local produce from the Auro Farms and the bakery is particularly popular for its bread and dairy items, especially their cheesecakes made from the popular Auroville Cheese. The bakery also has a dedicated outdoor seating area situated amid a sprawling garden space.

Located right off the East Coast Road leading to Puducherry, Auroville Beach is one of the most peaceful and beautiful beaches in the region. While the water is restricted for bathing due to rough waves, it is a great destination for anyone interested in meditation and attracts both locals and Aurovillians in large numbers. The beach is also popular for being an important olive ridley nesting ground.

In recent years, this experimental township has come into its own as an Offbeat travel destination and a major part of the credit for this ought to go to the number of cafes and hangout spaces that have opened up in the region. The Main Road and the market are in particular popular for their great cafes, bakeries, and restaurants. Some of the most popular cafes in the area include Marc’s Cafe, The Greek Cafe, Bread, and Chocolate Cafe. When it comes to eateries, the most popular ones include Ararat Restaurant, Tanto Pizzeria, known for its wood-fired pizzas, and Dharma Swasti, a vegan-specialty restaurant.

Auroville is exclusively populated by volunteers who have gone on to become citizens. One of the main mandates of Auroville is the practice of giving back to society. As a result, several citizens organize classes on things they are proficient in ranging from art and crafts to sculpting. Several great yoga and meditation classes are extremely popular in the township. While most of these classes are only open to Aurovillians, there are more than a few that accept visitors as well.

Here are 5 Facts about Auroville in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry:

1. Auroville is an experimental township in Viluppuram district mostly in Tamil Nadu. Some of its parts are in Puducherry as well.

2. It was founded in 1968 by Mirra Alfassa (known as “the Mother”) and designed by architect Roger Anger.

3. The purpose of Auroville is to realize human unity. It wants to be a universal town where men and women of all countries can live in peace and progressive harmony above all creeds, all politics, and all nationalities, Mirra Alfassa had said.

4.  Auroville is a growing community of 2,700 people from 50 nations and the vision for Auroville is that it belongs to nobody in particular but humanity as a whole.

5. The best time to visit Auroville is November – March. Places that can be seen in Auroville are Matrimandir, Auro beach, and Botanical gardens.

• Incredible India

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What is Auroville?

Auroville is an experimental international township in South India (in Tamil Nadu, near Pondicherry) where thousands of residents from over 60 countries are exploring alternative ways of living, working and being together peacefully.

Auroville was created in 1968 by representatives from 124 countries and all the states of India. It is the largest and oldest surviving international intentional community in the world. In 55 years, Auroville has flourished from a barren desert to a 3,000-acre township and bioregion in which more than 3 million trees have been planted, home to rich biodiversity, 9 schools, multiple social enterprises, etc.

Auroville is based on the dream of Mirra Alfassa, known as the Mother, to put in practice the teachings of Sri Aurobindo, one of India’s most prominent philosophers and leaders of its independence movement. The intentions behind the project are listed in a Charter.

Auroville has been recognised by global authorities such as the United Nations (UNESCO passed multiple resolutions supporting it) and eminent personalities such as the Dalai Lama and the late J.R. Tata.

But if you would ask this question inside Auroville, everyone will tell you their own version of Auroville’s essence. Perhaps in this diversity lies the answer? What is this place that can mean so much to such a diverse range of people that they leave behind their land, their stable jobs and security, and jump into a social experiment held together by a shared Dream and a Charter?

Auroville Charter

(Read out at the inauguration of Auroville, on the 28th of February 1968.)

• Auroville belongs to nobody in particular. Auroville belongs to humanity as a whole. But, to live in Auroville, one must be a willing servitor of the Divine Consciousness.
• Auroville will be the place of an unending education, of constant progress, and a youth that never ages.
• Auroville wants to be the bridge between the past and the future. Taking advantage of all discoveries from without and from within, Auroville will boldly spring towards future realisations.
• Auroville will be a site of material and spiritual researches for a living embodiment of an actual human unity.

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; a place of peace, concord and harmony where all the fighting instincts of man would be used exclusively to conquer the causes of his sufferings and miseries, to surmount his weaknesses and ignorance, to triumph over his limitations and incapacities; a place where the needs of the spirit and the concern for progress would take precedence over the satisfaction of desires and passions, the search for pleasure and material enjoyment.

In this place, children would be able to grow and develop integrally without losing contact with their souls; education would be given not for passing examinations or obtaining certificates and posts but to enrich existing faculties and bring forth new ones. In this place, titles and positions would be replaced by opportunities to serve and organise; the bodily needs of each one would be equally provided for, and intellectual, moral and spiritual superiority would be expressed in the general organisation not by an increase in the pleasures and powers of life but by increased duties and responsibilities.

Beauty in all its artistic forms, painting, sculpture, music, literature, would be equally accessible to all; the ability to share in the joy it brings would be limited only by the capacities of each one and not by social or financial position.

For in this ideal place money would no longer be the sovereign lord; individual worth would have a far greater importance than that of material wealth and social standing. There, work would not be a way to earn one’s living but a way to express oneself and to develop one’s capacities and possibilities while being of service to the community as a whole, which, for its own part, would provide for each individual’s subsistence and sphere of action.

In short, it would be a place where human relationships, which are normally based almost exclusively on competition and strife, would be replaced by relationships of emulation in doing well, of collaboration and real brotherhood.

The earth is certainly not ready to realize such an ideal, for mankind does not yet possess the necessary knowledge to understand and accept it nor the indispensable conscious force to execute it. That is why I call it a dream. Yet, this dream is on the way of becoming a reality. That is exactly what we are doing on a small scale, in proportion to our modest means. The achievement is indeed far from being perfect, it is progressive; little by little we advance towards our goal, which, we hope, one day we shall be able to hold before the world as a practical and effective means of coming out of the present chaos in order to be born into a more true, more harmonious new life.  

(Written by the Mother in 1954)

What are the goals of the Auroville project?

Auroville is working to come up with models and systems that enable humans to rise above today’s imperfect and unsustainable ways of being and living together that lead to inequality and exploitation: Nations fighting and claiming land and planetary resources as their own causing suffering and misery worldwide; Consumerism and the search for pleasure and material enjoyment for the egoistical satisfaction of desires and passions; Education has become a rigid institution to obtain certificates and posts leading to titles and positions; Material wealth and social standing propel a constant quest for the supremacy of power and money; Human relationships are based almost exclusively on competition and conflict; Art and culture is not accessible to all and depends upon one’s social or financial position.

In view of all this, the Auroville Charter calls for a “living embodiment of a true human unity”. This implies both individual and collective transformation are needed to realise harmony in society. Within the Auroville project are dozens of initiatives focusing on topics ranging from reforestation to circular economy, to universal basic income and participatory governance. The Dream speaks of a place “somewhere upon Earth” where old systems no longer limit human creativity and social innovation. So Auroville is experimenting on behalf of all mankind.

How to get there? is a question that has occupied generations of Aurovilians. The Charter calls for “taking advantage of all discoveries from without and from within” and it refers to “material and spiritual research” and “unending education”. Broadly speaking, one could say Auroville is a living laboratory, where learning and inquiry is invited and catalysed.

How many people live in Auroville?

Today, the population is around 5,000 – including around 3,000 residents (around 50% of which are Indian nationals), their partners, “newcomers” (people wanting to become Aurovilian), and long-term volunteers. Additionally, Auroville counts about 10,000 day visitors and 5,000 employees from neighbouring villages per diem.

Is this enough to build the kind of systems and models humanity needs? Yes and no. For example, there are enough consumer households to create a different model for distribution of basic goods, to run a viable e-mobility service and a library, but maybe not enough for a health insurance scheme. In many ways, Auroville works well in covering its residents’ needs in various domains such as education, art and culture, food and housing, etc. However, in other ways, it can already be considered too big (see Summary of crisis for more details about the current trouble Auroville faces in terms of decision-making).

Why is Auroville “unique”?

Firstly, this project exists because of a unique founder and integral philosophy. The Mother and Sri Aurobindo were clear about the need for spirituality to be put in action, not removed from society in a dedicated space of worship, to transform and improve humankind and society through an evolution of consciousness.

Secondly, the community that has come together around this call to action created a culture of its own, quite separate from either the backgrounds of the early participants or the local Tamil traditions, and yet integrating both. In Auroville, there are as many languages spoken as countries represented, traditions from all over the world are shared in various gatherings, and the residents celebrate the creation and existence of this community every year during the “Auroville Birthday Week” (between the founder’s birthday and Auroville’s inauguration date).

When people first moved to Auroville, there was no shade, so they planted trees. This led to greenwork and sustainability becoming the backbone of collective life – in stark contrast to other cities around the world. Since then, tens of thousands people have attended workshops in Auroville, focusing on sustainability as well as the legacy of experimentation and teaching – both as Auroville for a space to try things out, but also to share knowledge with the world.

While Auroville still remains in the process of developing, the level of goodwill and generosity shown in 54 years has been impressive: there are over 150 units creating everything from lampshades to treehouses, people built their own roads and infrastructure, created 12 different schools, 2 health clinics, an ambulance service, a solar powered kitchen that provides 1,000 meals a day, countless buildings using sustainable building methods, 2 amphitheatres hosting more than 2,000 people, and the list goes on and on… To discover more about Auroville’s achievements, please click here .

Last but not least, the Indian government plays an important role. The Auroville Foundation Act (1988) is the first time a government adopted an official act of parliament, inviting an international community that “belongs to nobody in particular” within its borders. All citizens of the world can ask for a special Auroville visa to participate in this project. No other country has dared to follow this example.

Is Auroville a religious sect?

To become an Aurovilian (an official resident of Auroville) one declares that one has no religion. Instead one is expected to be “a willing servitor of the Divine Consciousness” – which is a force larger than our human self. How to practise this service is up to each individual and there are no prescribed rituals, ceremonies, or priests.

When the Mother wrote “The Dream,” she decided that creating a new kind of society had to be done without the potential dogmatic values of an established ashram. Sri Aurobindo emphasised an integral approach to life, combining physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual realms, and he saw a special role for India as a spiritual leader of the world.

The famous Auroville Foundation Act as well as a Supreme Court ruling confirmed once and for all the independent and non-religious status of Auroville. So Auroville can be said to have a spiritual mission, but not a religious one.

I have never heard of Auroville before, why?

Advertising this project is something that the Mother, the founder of Auroville, overtly discouraged. Some people in Auroville say that they came here because they are “called” to do so, they were attracted by an inner call. Moving to a township where many aspects of social life are still unfinished, and everything you do can be questioned by anyone, is not an easy choice. As Auroville had limited capacity to welcome newcomers, it stayed very discreet in the media.

This situation changed 10 years ago, when Auroville started opening up to the world. With all the projects and results originating in Auroville, it was not really possible anymore to avoid public visibility. The emergence of social media also dramatically increased attention. Now, with the world facing a global ecological crisis and the shadows of capitalism being exposed, it is to be expected that a project aiming at finding alternatives to the dominant systems for over 50 years will come more into the limelight, such as studies and other initiatives conducted to create support systems within communities.

What are the fields of expertise of Auroville ?

Auroville has been a hotspot of green work and social innovation since the 1970s. Auroville has played an important role in sectors covering education, agriculture, reforestation, energy, waste management, architecture, design, and community building.

• Auroville forests tell an almost mythical story of humans acting as a force for good at reversing desertification. Pioneers planted more than 3 million trees over the years, providing a safe haven for numerous animal species: 65 bird, 14 amphibian, 16 lizard, 6 turtle, and 45 mammal species have been spotted enjoying their new habitat. Today, the Auroville tree nurseries act as sacred groves, and Auroville seed banks are enabling reforestation with indigenous species across the country.
• Auroville architecture has become synonymous with sustainable design, with almost 30 architects, more than 90 interns and volunteers, numerous workshops hosting up to 100 participants. For colleges across India, sending their students to Auroville has become a respected part of their curriculum. 
• Auroville educational initiatives have inspired countless teachers to try our alternative models and methods of schooling and learning in India and abroad. 9 schools in Auroville tend to over 450 students, while 12 outreach schools cater to more than 800 children from the bioregion.
• Auroville residents are notoriously artistic, and Auroville podiums act as an artistic and cultural centre of gravity that punches far above its weight. 350 to 750 events are organised yearly in 16 different locations, offering a wide array of activities under visual arts, performing arts, literary arts, health, crafts, and Auroville.
• Despite being currently under duress, Auroville governance stands out as the longest living experiment in intercultural, interdisciplinary co-living and co-creation, effectively managing its own housing, assets, infrastructure, education, immigration, etc.

As a laboratory of evolution, warmly hosted by one of the most spiritual countries of the world, Auroville has already proven its desire to progress in numerous fields. What is already here has been built up from scratch, and possibilities abound. What is very important for most residents is not the destination, but the journey.

Read more about Auroville’s achievements and realizations

Discover how Auroville contributes to solving the world’s challenges

Email: [email protected]

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Towards Sustainable Living

Auroville: The Indian Township Called The City Of Future

• 4 years ago
• Read Time: 2 minutes
• by Yukta Baid

A weekend trip to Puducherry is never complete without a visit to Auroville, the City of Dawn . But what makes this experimental township so special and different from the others? It is almost like a gated community, for starters. Almost 53 years ago, Auroville was born with a thought: a universal town that does not segregate on any aspect.

Auroville is also often called the City of Future because it is a whole different world there. The people of Auroville do not own anything there, as they are volunteers who work for the greater good. They also do not use any currency! Instead, they use a debit-card lookalike, an Aurocard, for their transactions. The people of Auroville also get access to free healthcare, electricity, and schooling. The schools do not conduct examinations, and the students can take up subjects of their own liking.

So how do they sustain themselves? Apart from getting regular donations from the Indian government, they also get revenue from daily visitors and guests. These funds are then used to continue research in some of the most sustainable agricultural practices found in India. They are particularly experts in securing wind and solar energy and continue new projects to decrease water wastage in crop cultivation, among others. Their afforestation and reforestation campaigns have also worked supremely well.

Named after Sri Aurobindo , a person of great importance during the Indian Independence Struggle, Auroville also has French roots, with Aurore meaning dawn, and Ville meaning city. It exists in the Villupuram district in Tamil Nadu, but also extends to Puducherry. Founded by Mirra Alfassa, a spiritual follower of Sri Aurobindo, and designed by architect Roger Anger, this township came into existence on the 28th of February in 1968. Alfassa was commonly called the Mother. The Matrimandir, located in the middle of the town, is the peaceful symbol of divine mediation, and peace has to be maintained around the area.

The Auroville Charter, which had four points, handwritten in French by the Mother, was pretty straightforward too. It speaks about how Auroville doesn’t belong to anyone, and that it is a place which offers never-ending learning and acts as a bridge between all the things that have been learned in the past, and can be learned in the future. The Matrimandir has a solar power plant built-in. They don’t use paper currency. They conduct extensive research on afforestation, sustainable cultivation, and water resource management. These things snowball into one conclusion, that is, Auroville is building upon its foundation and living up to its destiny of being a City of Future, and a sustainable one too!

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