Issue Nº434 – News in brief

Lt General Dhiraj Singh, General Officer Commander-in-Chief, Southern Command of the Indian Army, visited Auroville on 17 August and interacted with the Secretary, Auroville Foundation, and other Auroville representatives. According to a report in the Newspaper The Hindu, the discussions centred around initiating a comprehensive collaboration programme between Auroville and the Indian army, featuring innovative modules to benefit the youth of Auroville and its bioregion. These include physical education programmes designed to prepare young people for opportunities in the Indian Armed Forces and enhance National Service Scheme initiatives for children and youth in the Auroville community.

On 26 August, Shri Digvijaya Singh, Raya Sabha MP and Chairperson, Parliamentary Standing Committee of Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports, made an official visit to Auroville to assess the various development initiatives. The projects reviewed included the Crown Road, the Matrimandir Lake development, and the progress of various educational initiatives of the Sri Aurobindo International Institute of Educational Research. He also visited Annapurna Farm.

A petition calling upon local authorities and decision-makers to save Annapurna Farm from conversion to an IIT campus in an ‘unjust transformation’ had received 13,780 signatures in support by 30 August. The petition is still open for signing at change.org

Acres for Auroville reminded purchase lands for Auroville. Its work has resulted in 187.14 missing Master Plan acres to be added to 41 Auroville communities, farms, forest areas, and nature preserves. To receive its Newsletter, visit land.auroville.org.

Through a 12-page letter to the Prime Minister and Minister of Education of India dated 31 July, Shri R Sarvesh Kumar, General Secretary Namo Peravai, Tamil Nadu, drew attention to large losses suffered by Auroville in recent land exchanges. Stating that the reputation of the Government is suffering because of this, he requested an independent investigation and an immediate pause on all land exchanges in process. 

The Discipline community has lost 2.5 acres of forested land after the AVFO decided not to appeal a court order that awarded the land to private claimants. The land, which has been nurtured by Auroville foresters for over 40 years, was cleared of trees and fenced by private parties on 7 June 2025.

The Working Committee constituted by the Residents’ Assembly informed the community that the case concerning the Admission and Termination Regulations (published by the Secretary in the Gazette of India in January 2024) was heard in the Madras High Court on 31 July, in front of a Divisional (Appeal) Bench. This was the final hearing. At the end of the debate both parties were requested to make written submissions by 8 August. A final verdict is expected in due time.

The case concerning the Working Committee regulations made by the Governing Board, also published in the Gazette of India in January 2024 and two other cases concerning the Working Committee are still pending in the Madras High Court.

The August 2025 Newsletter of the Matrimandir highlights the work done in the Garden of Bliss, where the five bowl-shaped fountains are being illuminated, and the work for manifesting the Garden of Youth is underway. Underneath this Garden, a 240 square metre underground room will house garden maintenance. Once built, it will be covered with 75 centimeters of composted soil to allow for plantation.

An electric stair-climbing wheelchair has been donated for the Matrimandir entrance staircase. This chair, and another soon to come which will climb up the curving interior staircase of the Matrimandir, will add a long missing feature to assist those who need this form of support to reach the Inner Chamber.

While new excavation and soil movement for the lake are awaiting permission from the authorities to carry the work forward, work is underway to place a new set of electric cables under the bed of the future lake which will bring in all the electricity from the solar plant, the generators, and the State electricity grid to power the activities of the Matrimandir. 

To enable the development of the Western portion of the Matrimandir Lake the road between the Matrimandir viewing point entrance and Town Hall has been closed from 4 August. Traffic is diverted via the Crown Road in front of Savitri Bhavan, Unity Pavilion, Language Lab, and then via the new road next to the Matrimandir Nursery which has been illuminated with street lights. Once the Darkali bridge work is complete, the Crown will connect all the areas, and the new road next to the Matrimandir Nursery will be closed.

L’Avenir d’Auroville, Auroville’s Town Planning Council constituted by the Governing Board, informed the community that it is “taking decisive steps in the implementation of the Auroville Master Plan, which has been extended [by the Governing Board] to 2035 to allow for the complete realisation of the township as originally envisaged”. It has completed the Zonal Development Plans for all four zones, “setting the stage for the more detailed Sector Plans, now under preparation. This is more than just planning on paper. It is the translation of the Galaxy Plan into the tangible blueprint for the city’s growth over the next decade, a leap forward that echoes the bold spirit of both Sri Aurobindo’s vision and India’s tryst with destiny.”

On 20 August, the community was informed through mass bulletin that the last five issues of Auroville Tomorrow, a newsletter published under the Auroville Media Interface of the Auroville Foundation and focusing on Auroville’s life, activities, developments, and present and future projects, are now accessible. Beginning with the Darshan Day issue in April, these editions offer insights and updates on the community’s collective journey. For more information contact mediainterface-avf@auroville.org.in.

On the occasion of the 90th Birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Pavilion of Tibetan Culture presented an exhibition on “Dalai Lama and Auroville—Three Memorable Visits (1973, 1993 & 2009)”. The exchanges between the community of Auroville and Tibetans have been frequent and regular, starting from Auroville’s inauguration day in 1968, when soil of Tibet was put into the urn by a young Tibetan girl, continuing in 1971, when the Mother took 12 Tibetan children into the Auroville school and in 1973 when the Dalai Lama spent two days in Auroville and Pondicherry (on 17 January, he met the Mother in the Ashram),

In December 1991, the Pavilion of Tibetan Culture became a unit of the Auroville Foundation through a resolution of the Governing Board under Dr Karan Singh and Dr Kapila Vatsyayan, the famous art and Tibetan scholar. In January 1993, His Holiness agreed to be the Patron of the Pavilion. Later in the year, he came to Auroville to lay the Foundation Stone of the Pavilion, and in January 2009 he returned to inaugurate the building.

The premiere of the 12-minute animation film Sri Aurobindo: A Call to New India, dedicated to sharing Sri Aurobindo’s transformative vision with young people across the world, took place at Cinema Paradiso on 15 August. The film centres on the Five Dreams of Sri Aurobindo—a powerful message he delivered to the nation on the eve of India’s independence, 14 August 1947. The film is a sequel to the previous animated production, Sri Aurobindo: a New Dawn, released on 15 August 2023. Visit: https://www.anewdawn.in/ for more information.

The Dominique Darr Grant was launched this year to enable young photographers to exhib at Centre d’Art. The first such exhibition, with the theme “The Sun, the Moon and the Truth, three things cannot be long hidden”, opened on 15 August and featured the work of five young Aurovilians—Anantini, Simran, Aadi, Balaji, Arati and Bhavyo. 

PRISMA announced in its August 2025 Newsletter that in collaboration with many people and with Auroville Radio, it has released an audio version of the first 15 chapters of Book One of Sri Aurobindo’s Magnum Opus The Life Divine. The recording has been voiced by Deepti Tewari. This audio project is offered on a gift economy basis. It can be accessed at www.life-divine-audiobook.com as well as through the Prisma Audio Books podcast, available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other major podcast directories.

PRISMA has also launched SupraText, a powerful new app designed to simplify access to and enrich understanding of Sri Aurobindo's extensive works. Conceptualised and designed by a group of researchers, SupraText allows for chapter-by-chapter analysis of Sri Aurobindo's works, such as The Life Divine or Savitri. The app also allows the user to search for specific terms and displays word clouds which visualise which other words are connected to the searched term and how frequently they appear. SupraText is envisioned as a precision tool for scholars and authors. Currently, SupraText offers an interface for Book One of The Life Divine; the vision is to eventually create interfaces for the entire Collected Works of Sri Aurobindo and to offer mobile access, translations, and improved responsiveness.

The idea for Supra Text was conceived by Dr Frieder Herb, a German physicist who wanted such a high-powered tool to facilitate his own research into Sri Aurobindo’s texts. 

The Auroville Dog Shelter has warned that rabies continues to be present in the Auroville area. Due to budget constraints, it is unable to renew the 1500 dog and cat vaccinations it did last year and is also forced to halt its successful “1000-dog-in-a-year” sterilisation programme, which, it warns, will lead to an exponential increase in the number of puppies in the entire area. All pet owners have been urged to contact their veterinarians to get their animals vaccinated with multi-vaccination (and not just rabies protection) in view of the high number of parvovirus cases in the area. For more information visit www.aurovilledogshelter.com.

Meanwhile Tine and Arthur, the executives of the Dog Shelter, received news that they have been replaced by new executives by an Office Order from the Auroville Foundation. No explanations have been given. As the Shelter has been running successfully and in full compliance with all rules, laws, and regulations, they have sought clarification from the Auroville Foundation for why they have been removed from office. 

In the last Auroville Today, we reported that the 69th Governing Board meeting had taken place and we noted some of the major decisions which had been taken. Further decisions made at this meeting included: