Auroville's monthly news magazine since 1988

From our latest issue

Landmarks

Matrimandir completed (February 2008, No 227)

Auroville exists in more than one dimension – there is the occult as well as the material dimension – which makes it difficult to assess what really is most important or influential in terms of the community’s development.


“The Inner found its way out”

Nishta

Nishtha (Siegfried) Mueller is a long-term Aurovilian, Sanskrit teacher, Veda researcher, and passionate life-long learner. For more than forty years he has devoted himself to Sri Aurobindo’s The Secret of the Veda and Hymns to the Mystic Fire, to the study and restoration of some of the ancient hymns and to sharing a living approach to Sanskrit with spiritual seekers.


We need a real Residents Assembly

Lakshay

Lakshay Dharan shifted to Auroville in 2015 and became an Auroville resident in Feb 2018. Since then, he has been active in art, communication, strategy, and organisational work.



AuroMag (Auroville Hungary Association)

AuroMag community members

I met Dr Boglarka Nagy (Bogi), a warm, smiley woman, at the Global Ecovillage Network Europe gathering in Hungary in August 2025. Hers was one of the best workshops I attended at the gathering.

The mountain glowed like fire

The Mountain Glowed Like Fire

This is the charming illustrated story of a young boy who seeks, in the midst of an arid landscape, for a way to restore the monsoon, and who finds the clue while asleep “on the mountain where all journeys end”.


The thinking hand

1

In October, the Centre d’Art hosted an exhibition by artist in residence Nandita Sharma. Titled “The thinking hand”, she explained that her work moves between words and images.

About Auroville

Auroville—often called the “City of Dawn”—is an experimental, international township near Puducherry in Tamil Nadu, founded in 1968 by Mirra Alfassa (“the Mother”) with architect Roger Anger. Conceived as a place dedicated to human unity beyond nationality, creed, and politics, its spiritual and geographic center is the Matrimandir, surrounded by a deliberately low-rise, green urban plan, the "Master Plan."

Governance today is defined by India’s Auroville Foundation Act (1988), which established a three-part structure—the Governing Board, International Advisory Council, and Residents’ Assembly—to steward the project’s long-term experiment in community, culture, and self-development.

As a living laboratory, Auroville tries to bring its ideals into everyday practice—through community life, education, ecological stewardship, the arts, research, and ethical enterprise—while also welcoming visitors and volunteers who wish to learn and participate. Its evolving story has been consistently chronicled by Auroville Today, which has documented the community’s journey since 1988, through a monthly magazine.

Interviews


A path toward healing and reform

Chali

Chali reflects on the fractures within Auroville and on the possibilities of restoration.


Listening to the Shakti: a path toward Auroville’s healing

Amrit

In 2018, Amrit published ‘Children of Change’, a memoir recounting his early life and the difficult years in Auroville when he and others chose not to take sides in the bitter conflict between the Sri Aurobindo Society (SAS) and the then-dominant Auroville collective.

Maatram – Transformation

The Maatram team. From left Raam, Saif, Mathilde, Rashmi, Palani, Megha, Gopa and Marina

Maatram is a mental-health support centre in Auroville staffed by professionally trained psychiatrists, psychologists, psychotherapists, and counsellors who work collaboratively to offer compassionate, person-centred care.

New works of The Mother

Bob Zwicker

Bob Zwicker has worked in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Archives for 52 years, with particular responsibility for the Mother’s works. Recently, three new books have been published containing new material not published in the Centenary edition of The Mother’s Collected Works.

A basket full of grace

Frederick

On 17 April, long-term Aurovilian Frederick Schulze Buxloh was informed that his application for visa extension had been denied. The decision sparked widespread concern, leading to a petition addressed to Indian authorities that garnered over 4000 signatures.

The Kailash Story: from foundation to summit

Collective cooking

It all started in September 1998. Jean-François and I were at home when a group of teenagers, familiar faces from the Auroville schools, walked in with a quiet determination.

The Matrimandir, the Lake and the Garden works: an update

Scale visualisation of the Matrimandir and its Gardens, surrounded by the Lake and connected by a bridge originating from the Reception Pavilion

The January 2025 issue of Auroville Today focused on the aftermath of Cyclone Fengal, which breached the Lego block dam separating sections 1 and 2 of the Matrimandir Lake.

Personal stories


From Istanbul to Auroville

Cansu

Born in Istanbul, Cansu has always been driven by a desire to explore diverse cultures through travel and the study of philosophical and mystical texts, shaped by her upbringing in the Sufi tradition.

Making eye care available for all

Aurosugan being interviewed in Tanzania in 2019 after being selected as the Eye Health Hero by the International Agency for Prevention of Blindness(IAPB) for his work on sustainability in eye care

Aurosugan was born in Auroville. After completing an MBA in hospital administration, he worked at the Aravind Eye Hospital for many years. Recently he returned to Auroville and set up a primary eye centre here with ambitious plans to eliminate blindness in Auroville and the bioregion.

The Adesha I received from Roger Anger

Closeup of gifted artwork

Once, in later years, I went to see Roger in Auromodѐle, but it was different from the other times I visited him. I cannot recall why I went there, to discuss what.

Auroville needs the world

Marta

Having arrived in Auroville as a child with her parents in 1968, Marta provides a unique perspective as a member of the first generation of children within our community.

“I am here because of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo”

Srinivasmurty

Mr. Srinivasmurty was a member of the Auroville Foundation administration for the last 28 years, serving many different Secretaries and fulfilling different roles.

The view from next door

V

Arun Kumar (age 24) and V. Vignesh (age 22) are both Kottakarai village youth who grew up in and around Auroville. Here they share some of their experiences and perceptions of Auroville the community, the project and the Dream.

From our archives

Since its inception in 1988, Auroville Today has offered news, reflections, and diverse viewpoints on life in Auroville. This archive of past issues serves researchers, residents, and friends of Auroville by preserving a living record of the township’s evolving journey. Browse past editions, discover historical insights, and trace the unfolding story of this unique international experiment in human unity.


See past issues 

Making the cap

Rebar work at the top of Matrimandir

Many months of work in the merciless sun led up to two all-night concretings this summer on the cap of the Matrimandir. The cap is a protective platform that crowns the top of the structure.


Editorial

First issue of Auroville Today, November 1988

“Auroville Today”. O.K.: It is not the most exciting title in the world. But we felt that “New World” or “Transformation” were a little, well, premature.


The Auroville Foundation Bill

Meeting of Aurovilians

After months of speculation and incertitude, the Auroville Foundation Bill was passed in both Houses of Parliament in early September. There is no doubt of the historic importance of this bill in terms of Auroville’s growth.