There is an amazing place on earth where supposedly people live in peace and friendship, where there is no politics and religion, and even there is no cash there. Do you think this is a fantastic country? Not at all. The settlement, which will be described further, is located in India and is called Auroville.
The second name of Auroville is «the city of dawn». It was created in 1968 by the spiritual associate of Sri Aurobindo (are you familiar with his books?) and Mirra Alfassa, who wanted to establish an experimental settlement of a new level of consciousness. Although she was already of senior age at the time, she had enough strength of spirit and perseverance to bring into reality what had previously been just a theory.
Prior to this, Sri Aurobindo was the founder of an ashram in which he wrote his philosophical works, practiced yoga and pondered on the city of the future. He was the man who dreamed of organizing a new generation community.
Initially, it was planned that up to 50,000 people will live in the city. According to the data of 2014, Auroville residents amounts to about 2,300 citizens from 45 different countries.
The city's territory occupies 10 sq. km and all it resembles a park zone, full of trees and greenery. But these trees did not grow there initially, by and large, the area was deserted. To plant the land with greenery, more than 2 million trees were bedded in Auroville.
The main building of the settlement, designed by Mirra Alfassa herself, together with the French architect, is a place for meditation and yoga. It is made in the form of a ball covered with gold plates.
On the territory of the city there are scattered houses, where people live. Buildings are low, only a couple of floors. They are also unnumbered, and in order to find the right house, you should know the name of the commune that it inhabits.
The most interesting thing about Auroville is a system of values, the emphasis of which is on «giving, not consuming».
Mirra Alfassa developed a regulation describing the living conditions in the city. In addition to the external circumstances of their existence in the community, she also outlined the psychological moment. Requirements include the following items:
- Confidence in the importance of unification of mankind and the desire to interact with others for this purpose regarding material issues.
- Intention to cooperate in projects on the future of the city.
Naturally, the material question of life is also considered in some details, and the main condition is that a person should agree to live and share the necessary stuff in the team. Relations should be based on brotherhood and sincere mutual assistance. Plus, residents are required to protect nature and not to violate the laws of India.
From each member of the community is expected to actively participate in the construction and upgrading of the necessary buildings according to the capabilities of each. Moreover, on the territory of the city there are farms where vegetables, fruits and cereals are grown, and, accordingly, there are people engaged in this kind of activity. There is a shop of local eco-products and imported goods in the city.
Concerning the situation with money, yes, here there is no money circulation, at least, cash, but this does not mean that a person should not have it. On the contrary, people, just joining the community, should have enough money, which they donate to the common treasury, for living in the city throughout the year. Further, the community can take care of the housing issue and food, although the problem with the availability of places is very acute. There is no private property here.
Various educational courses are conducted in the city, which are aimed at developing consciousness, seeking harmony and teaching new skills.
It is possible to come here on an excursion or live for a few days. In this case, the tourist receives the status of a guest of the city. He must purchase a special local card (aurocard), which he replenishes with the necessary amount, and then he must pay a daily fee. It is almost 2 euros per day per person. With the help of the card one can pay in the store, rent a motobike or a bicycle.
Perhaps the most important issue to know is happiness. How happy are people here? One Russian-speaking couple of bloggers, having visited Auroville, noted that there were no particularly joyful faces seen. Therefore, the assumption that everything is not so smooth is creeping into the mind. Moreover, a lot of things have not still happened, as originally planned: the lack of sufficient housing, dilapidated or still unfinished houses, isolation of communes. Of course, these facts do not cross out the possible sense of happiness, which from the outside can be invisible.
Auroville is open for donations, as well as contributions in the form of human resources, equipment and knowledge. All information can be found on the official website of the city.
Personally I would like to give a visit there and feel the local atmosphere.