One could not visit Pondi and not go to Auroville so I booked myself a cab with the faithful Murugan. Jyo said he would join me as well so we set off at 8 am after a nice breakfast at the hotel. We reached Auroville in about 45 minutes. Unfortunately Nimmi Raphael, my pal from the Hampi Retreat who lives in Auroville was away and so was Vijay from PSIOG who was a trainee and who also lives in Auroville. But Vijay called me and gave me a few tips about how to go about things.
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| Entering a magical land |
Now Auroville was started in 1968 as an experimental community by Mother or Mira Alfassa who was a follower of Sri Aurobindo, as an ideal place with no borders and nations but only humanity guiding them. For casual visitors like us there is a visitor's reception where we can get a free pass which allows us to walk to a view point from where one can see the famous Maitri Mandir. Those who wish to meditate inside the Maitri Mandir must book online in advance and they get access to go inside the mandir, a gold plated globe.
Jyo and I saw the few stores that had not yet opened - Vijay's wife also runs a boutique there he said - and then got ourselves a couple of free passes and headed off on a 1.5 km walk to the viewpoint along with a noisy bunch of youngsters. There are people along the way and signposts to guide you through - passed some buildings including a Savitri Mandir. We finally got to the Maitri Mandir and after a few minutes there headed back.
On our way back we stopped at the Auroville Bakery and got some stuff. Nice and cheap!
We went to the Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry and spent some time there. Sri Aurobindo's samadhi is there. Its a peaceful place with absolute silence. Many people were meditating there. We sat for some time, went to the bookstore where I picked up a couple of books and headed out.
Morning well spent.
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