Remembering Dr. Muthuvel Karunanidhi

On October 28th 1973, while serving as Chief Minister, he visited Auroville. He was accompanied by Dr. Nedunchezhian, Minister for Education and Tourism. They visited Auroson’s home, Last School, the Aspiration cafeteria, an Auroville farm and the Matrimandir construction site, among other places.

At a special function, Dr. Karunanidhi also laid the foundation stone of the Tamil Nadu State Pavilion in the Bharat Nivas complex. The Education Minister, who presided, ended his speech by saying, “I am very happy indeed to be associated with this great endeavour to fulfil a great aspiration to establish this great city.”

In his speech, Dr. Karunanidhi, who was also a poet, referred to some beautiful lines of an ancient poet of Tamil Nadu quoted by the Education Minister. “Not only in those ancient days, but today also the same voice is reverberating in the whole of Tamil Nadu. In many respects Tamil Nadu remains as a guide to the world. Sri Aurobindo, born in Bengal and having had contact with various western countries, perhaps thought that any great idea to be accepted by the world must start from Tamil Nadu.”

Upon learning that the Bharat Nivas would consist of separate state pavilions, each representing the unique and individual character of that state, and that all these pavilions joined together would be called ‘Bharat Nivas’ or Indian Pavilion, the Chief Minister said, “We are for this type of unity only – union of equals with equal opportunities for all to develop fully all their inherent capacities to a maximum.

“I came here in the morning and I have seen the various places and projects that are in the process of development. Certainly it is not possible to get the results of this work, a huge attempt over a vast scale, tomorrow or the day after but I am firmly convinced that there is a great future for this World City... There is no doubt that this city shall shine as the guiding light for all the countries of the world at large. ..We are prepared to give our full cooperation and support for the “lakshyam” (aims and ideals) of this city of unity. My best wishes for Auroville that it would shine in the world like a rising sun.”

During the visit, it was announced that the Tamil Nadu government would give financial support for the construction of the pavilion of Tamil Nadu.

A beginning was made on this structure, but it was never completed. During the 1970’s, Prabhat Poddar was put in charge of Bharat Nivas architecture by his uncle Navajata. He started building structures for state pavilions which were so poorly built that the community subsequently decided not to continue with their construction. The Laboratory of Evolution presently is housed in a modification of what was Prabhat’s Tamil Nadu Pavilion.

Today, a much larger Tamil Heritage Centre, designed by Poppo, is under construction nearby.