A cultural bonanza

Late February is the busiest time of the year in Auroville’s cultural calendar. This year there was an ‘Auroville Festival’ which took as its theme the first quality of the Mother’s symbol – Sincerity. Through various activities, the first four days focused on the four powers of the Universal Mother – Wisdom, Strength, Harmony, and Perfection – and the remaining four days on four attributes we need to develop in ourselves –- Knowledge, Power, Abundance, and Self-giving. In addition, two days were dedicated each to Maheshwari, Mahakali, Mahalakshmi, and Mahasaraswati. The festival is planned to be an annual event.

There were many other music concerts and recitals. They included a concert of sacred songs by visiting Australian soprano, Heather Lee, in the Amphitheatre, sacred music by the Auroville Renaissance Cappella choir under the direction of Eugeen Liven d’Abelardo, a performance of Tamiz music in Unity Pavilion, a Rudra Veena concert, and a Western classical piano recital by Harmut. 

There was a talk on Sri Aurobindo and Bharathiar’s poetry and a performance of Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ by the students of Deepanam School.

Flower enthusiasts welcomed the inauguration of Mother’s Flowers Garden in Mahalakshmi Park on 21st February, and some participated in the Hibiscus Art Festival and a flower mandala workshop at Savitri Bhavan. 

Exhibitions during this period included Within/ Without, a pottery exhibition by Rakhee Kane, and an experimental photography exhibition by the late Giorgio Molinari at Citadines; The Willow Tree at Pitanga; and Towards the Sun, a photo exhibition at Aurelec Cafeteria on the Pharaoh Akhenaten. Akhenaten, who attempted to make ancient Egypt worship only one god, the sun god, was strongly influenced by his mother, Queen Tiye, who, according to The Mother, was one of her previous incarnations.