What would be your first expression if someone said to you that there is a place in India with no money, no politics and no religion. Would you believe? Yes, you may hesitate but if you verify it, you would come to know about a city called Auroville, which is a class apart. People live peacefully over there and it is famously called as ‘City of Dawn’.
“Auroville is meant to be a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony, above all creed, all politics and all nationalities. The purpose of Auroville is to realize human unity.”
It was discovered on 28th February 1968, by Mirra Alfassa (known as “The Mother”) as a project of the Sri Aurobindo Society. For your information, Mirra Alfassa was the spiritual collaborator of Sri Aurobindo, who held the conviction that “man is a transitional being”. Auroville was designed by Roger Anger.
Mother always believed that the “universal township” of Auroville would give rise to the Indian resurgence. She expected that Auroville would “contribute significantly in the progress of humanity towards its splendid future by bringing together people of goodwill and aspiration for a better world.”
“Auroville belongs to nobody in particular. Auroville belongs to humanity as a whole. But to live in Auroville, one must be the willing servitor of the Divine Consciousness.”
People who live in Auroville come from around 50 nations including from all age groups, social classes, cultures, environment. To put it in simple terms, Auroville stands by ‘humanity’ as a whole. It has a population close to 2,400 people.
Interestingly, Auroville is being run without a hierarchical order. It is administered by an assembly that has every adult resident.
“There won’t be any exchange of money in Auroville. It is only with the outside world that Auroville will have money relations. Money will be no more the Sovereign Lord; individual value will have a greater importance than the value due to material wealth and social position.” – Mother
Auroville has its own planning, designing and construction of buildings. It has archival facilities, research institutions, an auditorium, around industries, restaurants, farms, guesthouses and so on. It has a high density of computers, a dedicated e-mail network (auronet) for the residents as well.
