I recently spent some time in Auroville, and it was a peaceful couple of weeks. As I toured the local sights, ate some delicious organic meals, and learned about this ‘experimental community’ I wondered how well my friends and family would like it…
Is Auroville worth visiting? Yes. There is a beautiful gold dome, the Matrimandir. There are delicious restaurants with organic vegan food, sushi, wood-fired pizzas, chocolate, and gourmet coffee for a few bucks a plate. It is also in a peaceful jungle.
If you want a place with a long list of tourist destinations like Delhi or another big city, you may NOTE enjoy your time here. However, if you’d prefer to spend time in nature, take a workshop, sit in on a yoga class, and learn about how to build an experimental town that the Dalai Lama has visited a few times, then it’s worth visiting.
You are probably one of two types of tourists:
- Day Trippers: You want to see all the major sights in a day and eat some good food. Read on, I got you covered.
- Spiritual Seekers: You want to spend more time going to workshops and meeting the community. Read on, this will be a good introduction.
Whether you’re visiting for a day or a month, Auroville could offer you a lot…
“There should be somewhere on earth, a place which no nation could claim as its own, where all human beings of goodwill who have a sincere aspiration could live freely as citizens of the world & obey one single authority, that of the supreme truth; a place of peace, concord & harmony…”
The Mother, Mira Alfassar. Founder of Auroville
In this post, I’ll show you:
- An overview of Auroville: An Experimental Community
- A Day Trip To Auroville
- What to Wear in Auroville
- Places to Visit in Auroville
- An Introduction to the Visitor’s Center
- Viewing the Matrimandir
- Auroville Beach
- A Longer Stay in Auroville
- How Much Does it Cost to Stay in Auroville?
- Integral Yoga
- Healing Centers
- Educational Workshops
- Local Events
- Where to Stay
- What to Eat
- Can You Work Online?
- How to Join
An Overview of Auroville: An Experimental Community
Auroville is a community that is built as an experiment to be free of politics, religion, and nationality. It is owned and governed by the Auroville Foundation, with members appointed by the Indian government.
“There won’t be any exchange of money in Auroville. It is only with the outside world that Auroville will have money relations. Money will be no more the Sovereign Lord; individual value will have a greater importance than the value due to material wealth and social position.”
The Mother, Mira Alfassar. Founder of Auroville
Auroville strives to be free of money, yet it must finance its operations, so it has a commercial zone and money-generating businesses.
For example, I live a few hours away and I buy their spirulina, hemp seeds, flax seeds, sprouted sunflower seeds, sprouted almond butter, and pumpkin seeds. Basically, if you want healthy hippie foods, Auroville have some of the best quality 🤓
Auroville also generates income from donations, payments for land or housing, and tourism (all visitors are charged 150 rupees a day to stay).
Auroville was started by 300 people in 1968 as the final legacy of the Indian saint, Sri Aurobindo and his spiritual partner, Mira Alfassar, or The Mother as she’s called.
Sri Aurobindo was a philosopher and retired political activist, who focused on spirituality and grew a spiritual community in Pondicherry around the ashram with his name. Two years after his death, The Mother took the next step which is to start Auroville as more followers continued to come.
The Auroville Charter:
- Auroville belongs to nobody in particular. Auroville belongs to humanity as a whole. But to live in Auroville one must be a willing servitor of the Divine Consciousness.
- Auroville will be the place of an unending education, of constant progress and a youth that never ages.
- Auroville wants to be the bridge between the past and the future. Taking advantage of all discoveries from without and from within, Auroville will boldly spring towards future realisations.
- Auroville will be a site of material and spiritual researches for a living embodiment of an actual human unity.
The town was approved by the Indian government as well as UNESCO 5 times.
Their goal was to be a universal town that could realize human unity, which is why soil was brought in from 121 countries.
The city’s goal is to have a population of 50,000 people in 200 square kilometers. Currently, the population is around 3000 residents in 84 square kilometers. There are as many as 5000 to 10000 volunteers and tourists on any given day.
A Day Trip to Auroville
You can see the main tourist destinations in Auroville in a few hours and it’s worth a visit if you’re curious.
The golden dome, the Matrimandir is the big draw for visitors and it’s worth seeing. It looks like the Epcot Center at Disney World, except it’s covered in gold.
You’ll also spend time at the Visitor’s Center, which will give you an overview of the city. Then grab some delicious food or shop at the boutiques.
How to Get to Auroville
Auroville is located in southeast India, less than 10 miles from the French colonial city of Pondicherry.
LOCAL TIP: The easiest way to get to Auroville is to fly into the Chennai and get an Intercity Uber to Pondicherry which is a flat 2500 rupees ($35 USD). The driver should let you off at Auroville since it is closer than Pondicherry. If you’d like to see Pondy first though, you can take a taxi or autorickshaw from the downtown bus station to Auroville for a maximum of 300 rupees.
From Bangalore to Pondicherry, you can get an Outstation Ola Cab (the Uber of India) for between 4477 rupees up to 7824 rupees if you want an SUV.
If you want to save some money, you can take the local buses or I recommend using the app, RedBus.
From Chennai’s International Airport to Pondicherry, you can get one of 68 buses starting as low as 270 rupees to around 550 rupees (less than $10 USD).
From Bangalore’s International Airport to Pondicherry, you can get one of 28 buses starting as low as 422 rupees to 775 rupees.
What to Wear in Auroville
The population of Auroville is mostly made up of Indian people, and what you would call “Auroville” township has a number of local Indian villages.
Dress in Auroville the way you would dress in other rural Indian areas.
- Dress modestly.
- Women: Cover knees and shoulders. No short shorts or tank tops.
- Men: Must wear a shirt and long pants is appropriate but less necessary. I wore shorts and a t-shirt with no problems.
- When swimming: Women should wear full piece bathing suits or a t-shirt and shorts over their suit. Please consider that if you wear a skimpy suit, a local man may interpret this as an invitation to approach you.
- Avoid wearing anything that may signal you are wealthy, like gold watches or fancy jewelry. Be conscious about bringing your laptop or DSLR out in public.
Places To Visit in Auroville
If you’re just visiting for a few hours, then I’ll go through the main destinations. Here’s what you should do if you are only here for a few hours…
- Visitor’s Centre
- Viewing the Matrimandir
- Auroville Beach
- Eat some delicious organic food, have coffee and desserts (see What to Eat below)
You will park at the Visitor’s Parking Lot. You will NOT be allowed to drive into Auroville unless you are staying at a guesthouse.
Visitor’s Parking Lot: It’s not far from Green’s Guesthouse on the outskirts of town at the address: XRX2+CH Edayanchavadi.
The parking cost is minimal. I paid 10 rupees for a two-wheeler, it’s a bit more for a car.
You will then walk 5 minutes to the Visitor’s Centre down a nice shaded path.
The Visitor Centre
The Visitor Centre is like an outdoor museum and advertisement for Auroville. There were a hundred or more people each time I went, and I saw busloads of school kids as well as foreign and Indian tourists.
You’ll first come to the main building with a museum-like information booth. It’ll have a sign for PASSES TO MATRIMANDIR VIEWING POINT.
You can get your passes from a guy at a desk at the end of the building, but first, read up about Auroville and get inspired. You’ll see things like Bhagavad Gita quotes:
Thou hast a right to action, but only to action, not to its fruits; let not the furits of thy works be thy motive neight let there be in thee any attachment to inactivity.
Fixed in Yoga do thy actions, having abandoned attachment, having become equal in failure and success. O Dhananjaya, for it is equality that is meant by Yoga.
One whose intelligence has attaned to Union, cast away from him even here both good doing and evil doing; therefore strive to be in Yoga; Yoga is skill in works.
Bhagavad Gita
You’ll see colorful paintings and a declaration about Auroville.
AUROVILLE WILL BE
You say Auroville is a dream.
Yes, it is a ‘dream’ of the Lord
and generally these ‘dreams’
turn out to be true,
much more true
than the human so-called realities!
You will see an explanation of the circular symbol of Auroville that represents the city plan as well as having meaning for the people.
The dot at the centre represents the Unity, the Supreme.
The inner circle represents the creation, the conception of the city.
The petals represent the power of expression, the realisation
You’ll also see a video about Auroville which can give you a good introduction and show you the making of the Matrimandir.
Hours: 9 am – 1 pm, 1:30 pm – 5pm. Sundays: 9:30 am – 1 pm, 2 – 5 pm.
Guest Accommodation Services
Once you get your pass, if you walk outside and take a right, you will see a room for Guest Accommodation Service. Here you can get help if you want to stay in a guesthouse in Auroville.
You can also check out the guesthouses here: http://www.aurovilleguesthouses.org/
Cafes and Restaurants
Auroville has some delicious food, and while the prices at the Visitor’s Centre are a bit higher than the other cafes, it’s worth getting an organic coffee or some vegan chocolate cake.
Right Path Cafe: You can get organic Indian or continental food. Their pizza is recommended. The masala chai is a safe bet. If you’ve finished seeing the Matrimandir, treat yourself to a dessert 🥳
Dreamer’s Cafe: It’s the #1 place to get coffee and tea at the Centre. It also has vegan chocolate cake 😋
Royal Element: It has ice creams and desserts.
Dosa Corner @ the Kiosk.
Boutiques and Shopping
You can find a good selection of books with titles centering on the story of Auroville to a wide range of other spiritual topics.
There are a number of beautiful clothing options with organic cotton.
I liked the selection of musical instruments that looked high-quality.
Their handmade paper handicrafts are super beautiful and unique.
Viewing the Matrimandir
Once you have your free pass, it’s a 10 to 12-minute walk to the Matrimandir viewing point.
Along the walk, you’ll see concrete places telling you about the 12 petals.
To the twelve petals surrounding the golden sphere of Matrimandir, the Mother gave the name of twelve qualities and assigned a specific colour to each of the qualities. She also gave a name of spiritual significance to over 800 flowers. Each quality is therefore also symbolized by a flower.
The plaques have colorful paintings of flowers with their Latin name and have inspirational descriptions. For example, one of the plaques says…
PERSEVERANCE
Pot Marigold
Calendula officinalis
[Picture of a Marigold]
Perseverance breakds down all obstacles.
It’s a beautiful walk through the jungle and although it was hot when I went, it is still pretty astounding to think that the area was a desert when they founded Auroville.
The viewing area of the Matrimandir is about 1 kilometer away from the structure and has a seating area with some informational plaques.
Auroville Beach
Auroville Beach is less than 5 miles from the Visitor’s Parking Centre. It’s worth a stop.
I’m not going to say it’s the most beautiful beach, but it’s nice, especially at sunrise. Swimming might NOT be allowed.
But it is recommended to head down there and take a walk along the water. If you head north you can find some quiet places to enjoy the view.
A Longer Stay in Auroville
There’s a lot to Auroville that requires you to invest a bit more time and energy to learn about, so I’d recommend staying longer than a few hours.
I had a great time riding my scooter along the dirt roads and exploring the area. There are a number of workshops, for example, I’d like to learn about Earth Bag Architecture and it’s one of the only places that you can find regular workshops.
They have workshops on building treehouses and bamboo furniture.
There are yoga and meditation classes, as well as many other things. It can be difficult to get into the community though if you’re just visiting so here are some tips and what it will cost you…
How Much Does It Cost To Stay in Auroville?
Guesthouses range in price from a place to put your tent for less than $10 USD to a peaceful house rental all to yourself for $50 to $100 USD.
Local Indian food will be less than 150 rupees (~$2 USD). If you go to a nice restaurant like Bread Chocolate you will spend a few dollars for something like the Quinoa Summertime Bowl for 270 rupees. Or get some Glazed Mahi Mahi at Tanto for 470 rupees.
If you stay in Auroville, you will be charged a daily donation of 150 rupees. Many guesthouses add it into their costs, but you should ask to be sure.
Walking Tour
You can get a guided walking tour which is a good start to learn more about the International Zone.
You will start at the Dreamer’s Cafe and walk 3 kilometers in 2.5 hours. The cost is 300 rupees per person.
Hours: Fridays, Saturdays, and Mondays – 10:30 am & 2 pm.
Book at the Visitors Centre Information Office.
Auroville Insight Tour
For a more detailed tour, you can book a half-day exploration and meet Aurovillians while exploring their daily life and programs.
Advance booking is recommended.
Email: insight@auroville.org.in
Integral Yoga
Sri Aurobindo sought spirituality through integral yoga. While you won’t find a laundry list of rituals and practices you must adhere to, you can learn more here: https://www.auroville.org/contents/581
Healing Centers
I met some people who were in Auroville to do some healing work. There are a number of therapies and centers available.
The Quiet Healing Center is Auroville’s version of a health spa. For 5000 to 5500 rupees a night, you can fully pamper yourself.
Check it out here: http://quiethealingcenter.info
Educational Workshops
Auroville’s mission is unending education, and they back it up with a constant stream of courses and workshops and classes.
Here is Auroville’s official page for workshops: https://www.auroville.org/categories/47?
There are a number of other unofficial workshops in the area though so if there is something you are looking for, just google it with Auroville.
I searched for “Earthbag architecture workshops” (aka how to build a hurricane-proof home for less than $10,000 USD 🙂 and oddly there was one happening while I was there.
Auroville is big on sustainable practices and farming, so if you’re curious about that you’re sure to find something.
Local Events
You can look for local events on Auroville’s website, but a better approach is…
Word of mouth: If you’re staying at an Auroville guesthouse, the locals and your host will know what’s happening and can direct you. Or sit in cafes and talk to other tourists.
Bulletin Boards: Marc’s Organic Coffee is not only a great place for delicious organic locally-sourced coffee, but they also have a great board with local events posted.
Where to Stay
To feel apart of Auroville, I recommend staying at a guesthouse within the township. Here is the website: http://www.aurovilleguesthouses.org/
You need to call up the places as the website is not the most helpful. You will also need to nail down a price.
If you want to set something up when you arrive, go to the Visitor’s Centre and see the Guest Accommodation Services. If it’s busy, you may not get a room that night though so do this at your own peril 😬
The main tourist season is December through February so you would need to book in advance then. I was there in August and there were places available.
I stayed at some guesthouses just outside the township.
Green’s Guesthouse is next to the Visitor’s Parking Lot, and has a restaurant next door. The rooms are simple and quiet for ~$10 USD. Digital nomads will appreciate the steady wifi.
Tharamai Resort is not far from Marc’s Coffee Cafe and is further away in nature. It’s quiet out there as well, and this place has a violin-shaped swimming pool for $10 USD a night. The wifi is NOT steady though, and it seems like a place that Indian tourists may go to chill and drink by the pool. I wouldn’t stay again, although it was nice to be away from the city and sit by the pool.
What to Eat & Drink
One of the best things about Auroville is the blend of local Indian cuisine with international cuisine. Wood-fired pizzas, seafood, sushi, and more are available here.
Tanto: Known for their pizzas, they also serve high-end seafood like Mahi Mahi, calamari and more. You’ll spend about 1000 rupees for two people.
Mother’s Grace: Get North Indian food like dosas and Palak Paneer for a few bucks a plate. 500 rupees for two people.
Bread & Chocolate: Get some hot-pressed sourdough sandwiches, great chocolate and vegan ice cream. 500 rupees for two people.
Sakura Sushi: You can’t miss the beautiful mural on the side of this building. I asked the patron for two popular rolls. He asked if I wanted veg or non-veg. I said let’s do both. He recommended the cooked tuna with mayonnaise roll (two thumbs up) and the marinated tofu with avocado roll (also two thumbs up). 1000 rupees for two people.
Can You Work Online in Auroville?
The internet is NOT great. It’s also NOT TERRIBLE and I worked online while I was here.
Green’s Guesthouse had steady wifi.
Marc’s Cafe has good wifi that you can use for one hour for free.
Well Cafe has okay wifi.
Mother’s Grace has good wifi.
3 Ways Restaurant has great wifi.
Dreamer’s Cafe has bad wifi.
Tharamai Resort has bad wifi.
WARNING: Some guesthouses in Auroville will intentionally block wifi or have poor mobile signals so they can disconnect. If you want to work, be sure to check with them ahead of time what their wifi is like. I would ask them what their speeds are. If they are NOT into connecting to the internet, you will be able to tell from this inquiry.
How to Join Auroville
So let’s say your short trip went well if you’re wanting to take a leap and join Auroville, here’s the basic process…
Volunteer for a couple of years. You will want to find a program you want to commit to for some time and invest yourself in the community. You could help with building, farming or other things. Make sure you get the appropriate visas, a tourist visa will NOT work if you are volunteering.
Apply. You will apply and go before a board appointed by the township. You would need to be able to financially support yourself for about two years as you work and invest in the community. They would wonder if you would eventually like to live there, could you make a size-able donation to buy your land. They would also inquire as to how you got along with the residents and the relationships you formed.
Even if joining is NOT for you, it’s a beautiful place to spend a day, a few weeks or maybe longer. I know I will go back for a workshop and some of that delicious food!
Reasons to Avoid Auroville?
Is it a utopia? If you’re looking for a utopia in Auroville, you may be disappointed. There is crime, there was a murder, and there have been sexual assaults. If you’re a woman, you’ll want to be self-aware and dress modestly. Do the typical things you would do to stay safe like do NOT go out alone at night, don’t accept drinks from strangers, and all the other stuff you know anyways.
Is it a cult? If you get weirded out by people almost worshipping someone called The Mother, then maybe Auroville is NOT for you. It does sort of have a cult-y kind of vibe. But seems harmless and they’re passionate about many cool things, so I’ll give them a pass 😉
Like any community of people, there will be challenges and struggles, and it’s not perfect. But I learned a lot, ate delicious food, saw some unique things and will go back, and I’d recommend other travelers visit Auroville too if this article interested you.
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