Friday, March 31, 2006
Visit Pondichery
Last 3 days I was at Pondichery. Pondichery is situated around 160 Kms southeast of Chennai and famous for Aurobindo Ashram and Auroville.
Sri Aurobindo, born as Aurobindo Ghosh, was a great Philosopher and spiritual guide. The Mother, born as Mirra Alfassa in Paris was his spiritual companion and carried forward the works of Sri Aurobindo. Actually she was the one gave shape to the Aurobindo Ashram and Auroville.
The drive from Chennai to Ponidchery is of approximately 3 hours. On arrival, my first priority was off course finding accommodation. The Aurobindo ashram administration runs a few guesthouses. Private guest houses and hotels are also available of different ranges. I was at the Bureau Central office of Aurobindo Ashram from where was directed to Park Guest House for accommodation. The Park guesthouse is on the seashore. I am enclosing a photograph of the guesthouse taken from outside. My room was a beautiful place facing the sea with simple furnishing. I spent hours together during nights and early mornings sitting on the balcony with only the sound of waves giving me company. The Guesthouse has a tranquil serene atmosphere.
A visit to Aurobindo Ashram is a must. The Ashram opens at 8 in the morning. There is Samadhi of Sri Arobindo and The Mother. The Samadhi is bedecked with flowers. It gave me great joy and peace sitting near the Samadhi on meditation. I also participated in the evening Mass Meditation held around the Samadhi.
The next important place in Pondichery is Auroville. Based upon the work and inspiration of Sri Aurobindo and given shape by The Mother, Auroville is intended as a site for the manifestation of human unity in diversity. The international township project of Auroville was inaugurated on 28th February 1968, when young people representing 124 countries and all the States of India placed handful of earth brought from their homelands in a marble clad urn in middle of the amphitheatre near the site of Matrimandir, at the centre of Auroville, symbolizing the creation of a city dedicated to human unity and understanding.
I took the conducted tour organized by the Ashram to visit Auroville. On arrival, we were shown a documentary film on Auroville and Matrimandir. All the details about auroville is available in the website www.auroville.org.
Inside auroville they are totally committed to non-conventional energy. Wind farm and solar photovoltaic systems are used. It seems inside the complex they don’t allow any motor vehicle. Only battery operated vehicles ply to commute the old and invalids to the Matrimandir. From the Reception center of Auroville to the Matrimandir one need to take a walk of one Kilometer. I took full advantage of this gentle walk through forest of various known and unknown plants and trees inhaling all the greenery around there with each breath. As all the visitors were busy in refreshing themselves at the information centre, I was the sole person walking through the forest. There was a kind of peaceful silence all around except the sound of a woodpecker somewhere unseen. The flowering trees were in full bloom at the peak of spring. It seems this whole land of 25 square kms were dry land and was converted to such a beautiful forest by the auroville community. What a great creation! Now a days in the midst of chaotic human tendency of destroying natural resources in the name of development, it is a great achievement of human spirit to create such a nice environment.
The center of Auroville is a Banyan tree circling which the total development of the community is planned. Near that banyan tree is the Golden Globe of Matrimandir. As the Matrimandir was under renovation, we had to comeback without seeing the inside of it. It seems there is meditation hall at the center of the Matrimandir. A single crystal globe is kept at the center of this meditation hall. The meditation hall is illuminated by the sun rays falling on this crystal globe from an opening on the top of the Matrimandir.
We sat on the nearby amphitheatre. The marble urn of lotus bud shape, in which the earth collected from 124 countries around the world are kept, is at the center of the amphitheatre. The tour of Auroville was so invigorating that my mind was not ready to comeback so soon. But one has to come back to earth.
One cannot miss the French identity of Pondichery. Before independence, Pondichery was a French colony. The signs are everywhere, in the names of the roads, the numerous French restaurants scattered around, the churches and the architecture of the buildings etc.
If you want to have a quiet vacation, to speak only to the gentle waves of sea, to listen voices of your inner self, to glimpse unforgettable scenes of sun rising over the sea, to walk through the green forest, to alleviate your mind and spirit to a different level, you must visit Pondichery.
Sri Aurobindo, born as Aurobindo Ghosh, was a great Philosopher and spiritual guide. The Mother, born as Mirra Alfassa in Paris was his spiritual companion and carried forward the works of Sri Aurobindo. Actually she was the one gave shape to the Aurobindo Ashram and Auroville.
The drive from Chennai to Ponidchery is of approximately 3 hours. On arrival, my first priority was off course finding accommodation. The Aurobindo ashram administration runs a few guesthouses. Private guest houses and hotels are also available of different ranges. I was at the Bureau Central office of Aurobindo Ashram from where was directed to Park Guest House for accommodation. The Park guesthouse is on the seashore. I am enclosing a photograph of the guesthouse taken from outside. My room was a beautiful place facing the sea with simple furnishing. I spent hours together during nights and early mornings sitting on the balcony with only the sound of waves giving me company. The Guesthouse has a tranquil serene atmosphere.
A visit to Aurobindo Ashram is a must. The Ashram opens at 8 in the morning. There is Samadhi of Sri Arobindo and The Mother. The Samadhi is bedecked with flowers. It gave me great joy and peace sitting near the Samadhi on meditation. I also participated in the evening Mass Meditation held around the Samadhi.
The next important place in Pondichery is Auroville. Based upon the work and inspiration of Sri Aurobindo and given shape by The Mother, Auroville is intended as a site for the manifestation of human unity in diversity. The international township project of Auroville was inaugurated on 28th February 1968, when young people representing 124 countries and all the States of India placed handful of earth brought from their homelands in a marble clad urn in middle of the amphitheatre near the site of Matrimandir, at the centre of Auroville, symbolizing the creation of a city dedicated to human unity and understanding.
I took the conducted tour organized by the Ashram to visit Auroville. On arrival, we were shown a documentary film on Auroville and Matrimandir. All the details about auroville is available in the website www.auroville.org.
Inside auroville they are totally committed to non-conventional energy. Wind farm and solar photovoltaic systems are used. It seems inside the complex they don’t allow any motor vehicle. Only battery operated vehicles ply to commute the old and invalids to the Matrimandir. From the Reception center of Auroville to the Matrimandir one need to take a walk of one Kilometer. I took full advantage of this gentle walk through forest of various known and unknown plants and trees inhaling all the greenery around there with each breath. As all the visitors were busy in refreshing themselves at the information centre, I was the sole person walking through the forest. There was a kind of peaceful silence all around except the sound of a woodpecker somewhere unseen. The flowering trees were in full bloom at the peak of spring. It seems this whole land of 25 square kms were dry land and was converted to such a beautiful forest by the auroville community. What a great creation! Now a days in the midst of chaotic human tendency of destroying natural resources in the name of development, it is a great achievement of human spirit to create such a nice environment.
The center of Auroville is a Banyan tree circling which the total development of the community is planned. Near that banyan tree is the Golden Globe of Matrimandir. As the Matrimandir was under renovation, we had to comeback without seeing the inside of it. It seems there is meditation hall at the center of the Matrimandir. A single crystal globe is kept at the center of this meditation hall. The meditation hall is illuminated by the sun rays falling on this crystal globe from an opening on the top of the Matrimandir.
We sat on the nearby amphitheatre. The marble urn of lotus bud shape, in which the earth collected from 124 countries around the world are kept, is at the center of the amphitheatre. The tour of Auroville was so invigorating that my mind was not ready to comeback so soon. But one has to come back to earth.
One cannot miss the French identity of Pondichery. Before independence, Pondichery was a French colony. The signs are everywhere, in the names of the roads, the numerous French restaurants scattered around, the churches and the architecture of the buildings etc.
If you want to have a quiet vacation, to speak only to the gentle waves of sea, to listen voices of your inner self, to glimpse unforgettable scenes of sun rising over the sea, to walk through the green forest, to alleviate your mind and spirit to a different level, you must visit Pondichery.
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