Sri Lanka & India 23/24

With a new driver organised we decided we did want to go to Auroville. It had rained every day we had been in India so we didn’t go the 2 days we were in Pondi but we made a late call to backtrack the 10km to go and were pleased we did.

We knew we wouldn’t be able to go inside the Matrimandir which is the golden globe at the heart of the whole place but we were still curious to understand what the whole thing was about.

Arriving at the visitor centre there was a sign that said cycle tour. The price was 500 rupees each (about $10) so we went for it. Was actually quite good fun going for the ride, although the stop to see the Matrimandir from the back side was a mosquito pit which wasn’t pleasant!

We got our photos, it is quite a spectacular thing. We learned Auroville belongs to nobody in particular but to humanity as a whole. It is a place of unending education, a place where people from all cultures of the world can be together as part of humanity. Religion is shunned and indeed the Indian Government passed a bill to enshrine that Auroville was not a religion itself. The place has many volunteers and peoples from all over the world.

The soils from 124 nations were used to plant the first thing. Essentially it is its own community that is open to everyone and is a lot about experimental living. They are cashless and have their own organisations to manage everything from housing to transport to water and food. Sounded like a lot of beauracracy but they are into solar energy and all sorts of other things. The biggie is to learn about concentration, something that is done on the inside of the Matrimander which is fully silent and is an open space with no pillars and a crystal orb at its centre.

Dad reminded Mum that if he wasn’t an accountant he would be a hippie and as he was starting to feel at home here, so it was time to move on!Les mer