Matrimandir- aka the big golden ball we weren’t allowed to get close to
A few days into our stay in Pondicherry, we decided to visit what is known as the international community of Auroville. About 15km outside of Pondicherry, and beyond the boundaries of the French Union Territory, Auroville is a community of about 5000 people whose legal status is actually derived from the Netherlands.
On our way- but still definitely in India!
Upon arriving to the rather flash visitors centre, the first stop on the tour was a ten minute video which could be watched in about 6 different languages, all of which I presume espouse the same rather cultish descriptions of how Auroville is a place without nations, religions, and other prejudices, with everyone working towards an inner consciousness. And that the heart of the city stems from the Matrimandir, a large golden sphere finished in 2008 which can be viewed by everyone, but into which only members of the city can enter without applying a few days ahead of time. This seemed somewhat parodixical if indeed Auroville “belongs to all of humanity”, but hey, sometimes it’s better not to think too much. According to the video the Matrimandir will soon be surrounded by a river of water to separate the other sectors of the community, the residential and industrial. To be honest, the whole plan reminded me of many early urban geographer’s attempts on the perfect city with all of its concentric circles and separation. Those cities of course never worked, but I guess there’s a first for everything.
A very planned place
After the video tour, we headed 1km down the beautifully landscaped paths to the Matrimandir viewing area. It was indeed quite the sight to behold: framed by the greenest grass I have seen and the brightest blue sky on a spotless sunny day, here was the huge gold spherical building. Adjacent was a red clay amphitheatre, which I have to say felt rather Hunger Games or even Roman Colisseum- esque. Especially when I read an informational board later that likened Auroville to a new society being formed….
Of course, Auroville is doing some admirable things. It employs many Indian people in one of the poorest regions of Tamil Nadu. It is productive, trying to have a viable economy. Unfortunately, most of this production ends up being handicrafts that are sold to tourists, but they are nice products. They build a lot of infrastructure focused on education and literacy, particularly for women, but I do wonder how much more could be contributed had the Matrimandir had not been built, or at least to its grand scale, for it’s really out of place in such a poor region of India. I did appreciate the eco-initiatives, although I’m sure a lot of the motivation behind these stems from Auroville’s dream of being self sufficient, a concept that already seems to be faltering, inevitable in today’s globalized world.
Working in Auroville
In the end, it was definitely an interesting tour, and there’s a lot of positive concepts that the community is trying to enact. But, it is definitely a place of paradoxes. Anyone can join the community, so long as they renounce all religions and search instead for inner consciousness, and are willing to work. They don’t want tourists wandering through their everyday life, but they do want them to buy their products. My final word on Auroville is that I find it hard to stick up for a place that spends so much time manicuring their lawn which seems to have no use other than contributing to the aesthetic value of a place that serves little function. For my friends, remember, I fought the lawn and the lawn won.
At least the grass was being used….