Auroville

bluebutton32

I'm thinking about spending a couple weks in Auroville in Tamil Nadu. It seems like it could be cool, but also like it might be really weird. Does anyone have any experiences/thoughts on it?

atala

It is a nice place to explore, but you need to invest some time and be okay with not understanding it right away, or ever . Auroville is more an experiment than a place with a clear definition. If you have only a week or two to stay there, you can only get a first impression, not much more. Reason is, Auroville is not one place, but it's more than a hundred different places, like many islands spread in a bay, and you as a visitor can only do so much to discover some of them. Many "Islands" you simply will not find, and at others you may not feel welcome.

The people who live there have their own agenda, and since many tourists have come over the decades and asked the same questions again and again, many residents are not particularly interested to communicate with another curious new visitor. The friendliest people there normally turn out to be fellow-visitors, because Auroville makes people happy as it appears as an alternative way of life, an option for everyone to join.

Go with an open heart, and do not expect an awsome spiritually enlightend place and people. then you will have a good time there.

In case you plan to be there in the busy period Mid-December-March, you should book a guest-house ahead.

Expect to spend about Rs 400-700 a day, everything included (food, simple lodging, renting a motorbike).

It is really worth it.

abracax

Auroville is cool and it is weird, and unless you know people who live there I expect your main impression of the place will be one of an earnest hippie commune run by Republicans. As other posters have mentioned, it is also very spread out, consisting of dozens of small enclaves scattered through a wide area. It helps if you speak French.

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all-one-heart

I agree with atala. You need to find something to offer people who are there, as well. But the vibes are extremely powerful, no matter what.

all-one-heart

Hi. I was in Auroville years ago, but the powerful energy of the location is worth going there no matter WHAT has happened since. Please, DO stop off at the Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry before going on to Auroville. It would be the best way to sort of get in tune with the Mother and Sri Aurobindo; meditate around their maha samadhi shrine. I used to go out there from Pondicherry on a rented bicycle, but don'tknow if modern traffic would permit it to be comfortable; it is a big place, Auroville, and once you are there it is nice to have a bike. When I was last there the Matrimandhir was not yet finished. Check it out!
Has anyone out there been recently?

capt_mahajan

I was in Auroville as part of a four day trip to Pondicherry day before yesterday.

No comments about the Mother and Sri Aurobindo; I have never been interested enough, but Auroville and its surroundings struck me as a peaceful and interesting place with some excellent ideas on harmonious living. And, yes, one in which I could easily spend a lot of time, except for the climate in Pondicherry; it was hot.

The Matrimandir is not yet finished, you can't enter inside. Can walk and spend time outside it on all days except Sunday afternoons.

The area between the East Coast Road and Auroville is dotted with a few people living there, I think.. maybe upto 3/4 kilometers before Auroville. A Tibetan or Nepalese lady runs a small cafe and makes deadly cheese omelettes

However, I do think that staying at Auroville would be the best option.


We did meet a few people using bicycles between Auroville and Pondicherry, all foreigners. I was in awe of all of them , cycling what must be 10kilometers or more in pretty searing heat. Most visitors or residents seem to use two wheelers, mainly mopeds and scooters.

The traffic is not so bad for cycling, though it was the weekend.

The experience.. atala has put it well, I thought. Exactly the same impression I got on a brief trip.

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atala

The Matrimandir can be visited, but you need an advance reservation with a free ticket to go there at a specific time. There is only a relatively small meditation room inside, and the visit is not really suitable for the crowds of tourists arriving at times.

But it is beautiful inside with the large crystal ball made by Zeiss, Germany, focussing light into the room.

This is probably perplexing to a first time visitor, but there is no such thing as "before Auroville". There are many smaller and bigger communities in the area, which you talk about about, cap. mahajan. And those communities are part of what makes up the physical Auroville. What you think is AV, are most likely just the shops near the AV Bakery by entreprising people who use AV as promotor of their income situation. But there are a number of communiteis clustered around those business places as well, and the whole thing again in the middle of a Tamil village. So it tends to be confusing to know what is what. There are several communities also below the East Coast Road, right at the beach. Such communities are small areas in the midst of village land, and often near a Tamil village.

There is an infrastructure for day visitors, the official visitors center. But do not expect anything like an Ashram or some large housing facility. Housing is all privately offered in the different communities. There is Centre guest house which is a "larger" facility, but even that offers only about a dozen rooms or so.

Best is to arrive at Pondicherry, stay at an Ashram guest house there for a few days and then explore Auroville from there with a motorbike. (Aurobindo Ashram and Auroville have little in common, except that Auroville is an off-shoot of the powerful and large Aurobindo Ashram organisation. Auroville took off after there was no space left in Pondy for the many people arriving after the 1960ies.)

Bicycles (Rs 20 per day) are not a realistic alternative, although they are nicer to ride and give a better feel of the place. From Pondy to AV it is 7 km on the Beach Road (= East Coast Road). Traffic is manageable on Beach Road. But there is a slight up-hill task where the AV area begins, and that can be demanding on you if it is hot. In addition you cannot get far with Cycles in checking out different communities. And you have to be home before night falls, which is around 7 pm.

In Pondy you can get a Kinetic Honda (a Vespa type scooter) for RS 80-120 per day. Avoid Autorickshaws, do it yourself. There is a guided tour offered by the Aurobindo-Ashram, but you do not get to see much with it. It is good for people who are not comfortable going by bike.

There is a service in Auroville that offers guided tours to different communities. That would be a good introduction for someone who feels lost there to explore on their own.

There are lots of interesting individuals living in Auroville who are approachable. If you want some names you can PM me. Also if you want specific advice about which community it would be best to check out for accomodation, I can give you guidance according to your needs and preferences. I have lived in AV for a few years in the 90ies and still visit there a lot.

If you want to visit AV with a really low budget, and do not want to spend 400-500 RS a day, I can also give you some info on how to go about it.

You get info on AV at the Auroville Boutique on Nehru St in Pondy. It is a well known place in town.

capt_mahajan

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Yes, but you can't enter right now since there is some work going on on the top of the Matri Mandir in connection with the
light and focusing.

Passes are available even after you arrive, but only for the outside of the Mandir. No visitors inside at the moment. But it is still an imposing structure.

Except Sunday afternoons, no passes then.

atala

Ah, I see.

Larkilli

In a nutshell:

I know about Auroville, Sri Aurobindo and The Mother's teaching since i was 18, as at that time i was working in Rome for a company that was importing incense and such from AV.
Since than, 15 years have passed, i still didn't manage to go visit, but my interest has increasingly grown.
Now i'm thinking to check the place out in my next journey to India.

Ok, my question - this is what i found on the AV site about climate info, and as it's not covered, i'm wondering how is the weather like in August and September... anybody knows?


"Climate - the climate of AV is sub-tropical, with high humidity and temperatures sometimes reaching 40C (104F) or more in May/June. Night time temperatures rarely drop below 20C (68F), even in winter, and can be as high as 30C (86F). Most comfortable season is mid December to mid March. Main rainy/monsoon season is Oct-Dec. Average annual rainfall is 125 cms. A small met station is maintained in the township area."


And to Atala:

i read you've been there for a while, i'll be definitely sending you a pm soon!

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Gametotravel

It's good to know some enlightened advice here!

atala

Climate in August until onset of monsoon end of Sept. is quite agreeable. The times I have been there in that season it often used to rain a little at night, but was sunny during the day. So a cooling down in the night which was welcome. If no rain, at least some clouds during the day... Nick-H would know more in detail how it has been in recent years.

There is an incence manufacturer now, Maroma, at AV, who has gotten super-rich thru all the different products they make and sell for an expensive price. He behaves like a maharaja, moves only with body-guards, and just finished getting his mansion built. You can see it in the Auromodel area. But even today you get more modest types of incence made in AV.

If you can avoid the rainy season, you would be well advised. The onset is generally around Sept 26. However, it can also fail altogether.

Looking forward to your PM.

Sama

wonder if bluebutton ever made it to auroville....her post is from 2007....maybe she went and never left -- I know a few hippies who went in the '70s and are still there

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atala

That is not possible anymore. You cannot arrive with a tourist visa and expect that to be transformed into an entry visa. A lot of Russians had to learn that the hard way. A large Russian newspaper wrote a very positive article on Auroville in the early 90ies, mentioning that many people go and live there indefinitely; so hundreds and hundreds of Russians sold everything, some of them bought a ticket to India with their last money, and went to Auroville with the expectation to be accepted just like that. They had to return and apply at the Indian Embassy in Moscow for an Auroville entry visa which is a special visa granted by the Indian government to people desiring to live in Auroville indefinitely. Some made it back eventually.

Nick-H

In October 2005, Chennai had over 1 metre of rain! but I think 2005 was also a record wet year.

I'd expect a few wet days in September, one or two might be severely wet.



I like -->this site:

It's just a private guy in Chennai with a weather station on the net, but you can see real-time information, and the monthly summary pages are useful.

Yes, I've been intimate with the climate of Chennai for the past few years --- but even only as far away as Pondy, something entirely different might be happening!

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