A place where people of all colors and creeds live harmoniously without politics, religion, or money sounds too good to be true, but believe it or not, there is such a place.
Auroville also was known as the “City of the Dawn” is an international city in the district of Viluppuram, approximately 150 km from Chennai in Madras, South of India. It is founded in 1968 by the spiritual leader Mirra Alfassa, better known as “Mother.” Currently, it has 2,500 citizens from 50 nationalities, with the capacity to grow to 50,000 citizens.
A place that does not follow standards that one is accustomed to, Auroville is a collective experiment in human unity based on the worldview of Indian yogi, Sri Aurobindo. The idea is if people from all cultures and castes can learn to love each other in Auroville, maybe the rest of the world can follow.
They don’t have a political system, no religion, and on top, do not use the money. Self-formed committees run the town and instead of money, they use ‘Aurocard.’
The township was created with support from the Indian government, UNESCO and the United Nations cultural organization, but is becoming more and more self-reliant in the truest sense of the word.
The peaceful, anarchic community aspires towards a safe and pollution-free transport system and seeks to be a model of sustainable eco-city.
Organized into 15 farms reaching an area of 160 hectares, there is plenty of food to support the population. 50 villagers and 300 neighbors work on the farms, producing 2% of rice and cereal consumed and 50% vegetables. Moreover, the village is self-sufficient in milk, dairy products, and seasonal fruits.
The buildings in the city are made based on an experimental architecture which optimizes the use of renewable energies by reusing and recycling.
There are many other projects run by Aurovillians, from schools to IT and handicrafts production which employed 4,000 to 5,000 people from nearby villages.
It is so often that we focus on the differences that divide us, whether they are political, economical, and spiritual, thus creating a boundary. In Auroville, there is no need to build walls between people because there are no restricting systems, to begin with. It is indeed a town like no other.
