Editorial

An editorial reflection

Over the past three years, Auroville Today has reported extensively about the changes brought about by the new Governing Board and its Secretary, in collaboration with Aurovilians who were frustrated by the pace of Auroville’s development. Many of the changes and an authoritarian approach to implementation have seemed destructive and damaging to the Auroville project. In this issue we focus on two proposals for resolving beyond the crisis.

One proposal comes from the Auroville Global Fellowship, an independent network of more than 50 national and international non-Aurovilian supporters who have contributed to the world in diverse fields relevant to the evolutionary ideals of Auroville.

Founded in 2024, the Fellowship seeks to support Auroville through information-sharing; dialogue on matters of global interest and concern; and by taking on projects that advance the spirit, values, and mission of Auroville.

On 14 January, the Fellowship published a 66-page report, Auroville in Crisis & the Way Forward, which summarises key facts about the situation facing Auroville and presents a plan to remedy it in accordance with the Auroville Foundation Act, the Auroville Charter, and the principles of the timeless Indian dharma. The report, the result of many months work of more than 20 people, includes a detailed review of more than 2,000 pages of reports, legal filings and rulings, newsletters, speeches, journals, websites, presentations, financial reports, and other documents. It has been sent to select Indian officials and supporters of Auroville worldwide, and has been made widely available in Auroville. It can be found at https://tinyurl.com/AVCrisisReport

Part I summarises important statutes of the Auroville Foundation Act and the history of its administration until 2021. Part II provides extensive documentation of the present crisis in the areas of governance, financial management, planning and development, communications, safety and security, and impact on local communities. Drawing on the findings of the first two sections, Part III, The Way Forward, provides a blueprint to resolve the crisis and inaugurate a positive future for Auroville. It is published here in full.

Another proposal comes from Divakar, a long-time Aurovilian, who recently circulated a paper entitled Auroville and its Destinies, in which he suggested a possible way forward which seeks to integrate the present reality as a way of continuing our collective progress.

This issue also reports on the commemorative photographic exhibition of the arrival of the second caravan in Auroville 50 years ago; and on the inspiring work of Auroville artists Aurodeva, Nathalie Nuber and Priya Sundaravalli.