Bharat Nivas - Pavilion of India

The Auroville Visitors Centre is Auroville’s reception and information disseminating centre for the often thousands of tourists and visitors coming to Auroville daily.

Krishna Devanandan has a background as a dancer, cultural event organiser and teacher of Tai Chi. She helped organise the Auroville Film Festivals and managed the Auroville Art Service from its inception in 2012 until 2023, when the Auroville Foundation appointed new executives.

On November 25, meteorologists of the India Meteorological Department observed a deep depression forming in the Bay of Bengal. Their initial forecast was that the depression would weaken and that a cyclone would not form, as the depression was moving at the unusually slow speed of 3 kmph, far below the typical cyclone speed of 10-12 kmph.

February is the time when we celebrate Mother’s birthday and the birthday of Auroville, as well as, this year, the ‘Golden Day’, and we enjoy a plethora of events and inaugurations.

At the request of the GB-FAMC and GB-BCC, SAIIER have prioritised the maintenance and budget 2024-2025 of all of SAIIER’s sub-units, which has led to a number of artistic and cultural units and activities having their budgets and maintenances cut.

“We do not belong to the past dawns, but to the noons of the future.” At 09.30 am on Sri Aurobindo’s 151st birthday, Manoj Pavithran premiered ‘Sri Aurobindo: A new Dawn’ in Bharat Nivas.

On May 27th, Bharat Nivas inaugurated Ekattva Maarg [meaning Discovery Path], a Unity Path to discover Auroville. The pathway comprises the loop that starts at the Visitors Centre and passes through Bharat Nivas, Unity Pavilion, Savitri Bhavan, the Matrimandir Viewing point and ends at the Visitors Centre.

Ramalingam Ramachandran, the manager of Sustenance Farm, passed away on 29th November in JIPMER hospital due to post surgical complications.

On February 19th, a remarkable performance took place at the Sri Aurobindo Auditorium of Bharat Nivas. Inspired by the poem ‘Is this the end?’

Aurosylle and Tim gave an informative introduction to wildlife in Auroville during a live and online event on 21st January in Bharat Nivas. Of special interest is that prior to 1972, Auroville had a count of 25 bird species.

Transparency is an elusive concept. At the borderland between here and beyond, between substance and transcendence, it’s a particularly interesting concept for artists to explore.

The selection of new members of four main working groups (the Working Committee, the Auroville Council, the Entry Board and the Funds and Assets Management Committee) took place on January 21st and 22nd in accordance with a selection process that had been approved by the Residents’ Assembly in December 2020.

On November 23rd, the term of office of Dr Karan Singh and the other members of the Governing Board of the Auroville Foundation came to an end.

The COVID Task Force, along with the Working Committee, has been the group that has been coordinating Auroville’s response to the lockdown. What has their work involved?

In collaboration with the Pavilion of India, a small collection of tribal and folk handcrafted artisanal work was showcased in January in the New Art & Craft building in Bharat Nivas.

In December, the 2nd National Painting exhibition took place in Kala Kendra Art Gallery, Bharat Nivas. Organized by the Pondicherry Art Akademy, 70 artists from all over India exhibited their work which represented a wide palette of styles.

Last year, a ‘Sufi Way’ meditation retreat took place in Bharat Nivas. Led by Nirupam Gyan, it involved Gurdjeff movements, active meditations, breath work and Sufi whirling, which is a state of inner stillness and outer movement.

Dear friends, I am happy to read the ‘Views on the International Zone’ in a past issue. May I respond as one who has been part of the International Zone Group in Auroville since the early days… keep this ‘window’ open and let inputs come from round the globe!

The Auroville Archives was established in 1991 by Krishna Tewari. For many years it was located in a temporary space in Bharat Nivas but in 2018 it moved into a new building in the Auroville Administrative Zone and the team was expanded.

In November this year, Aurovilian Dr. Mira Aster Patel, in recognition of “her invaluable contribution in developing Auroville”, was awarded the Auro Ratna award from the Overman Foundation in a ceremony in the Hall of Harmony of the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram.

Dr. Muthuvel Karunanidhi, a giant of Tamil Nadu politics who served five terms as Chief Minister and was the long-term President of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), died on 7th August 2018 at Kauvery Hospital in Chennai.

March 30th saw an unusual theatre production, an English adaptation of seven short Tamil stories by the late renowned writer, R Chudamani. The Madras Players, Chennai’s acclaimed English theatre group, presented the 90 minute-long production as a seamless narrative of intimate peeks into the lives of orthodox urban middle class Tamils.

The occasion was celebrated with song, dance and poetry from around Europe

Preparations for the two hours had its share of surprises and challenges.

From August 12 to 22, 2017, Bharat Nivas hosted Alpona, a festival of Bengal. The festival included an exhibition of paintings by ten women artists from Kolkata, an exhibition of textiles from Bengal, two musical evenings and screenings of Bengali films, including four by the internationally renowned director Buddhadeb Dasgupta who visited during the festival.

Manas discovers in Auroville the educational experiment he dreamed of years ago.

On two successive evenings in March the combined Auroville adult and youth choirs – 78 singers in all – accompanied by an instrumental ensemble presented a collection of songs from The Peacemakers at the Sri Aurobindo Auditorium in Bharat Nivas.

The All for Water for All (AFWFA) festival concluded recently on 22 March at Bharat Nivas, after seven weeks of knowledge sharing and learning.

International Youth Day was celebrated for the first time in Auroville on August 12th. Originally, the United Nations designated this day to draw attention to youth issues worldwide.

Sometimes it’s the small moments of synchronicity that seem to point quietly at something else that is at work, perhaps a grace. Such was the case for the recent Saarang exhibition, event at India Space in Bharat Nivas.

Auroville Health Services (AVHS), a team of eight members, is a non-profit service in the area of public health and health care for seniors.

With over 210 participating Aurovilians, the Auroville Singing Festival 2014 was doubtless the year’s largest cultural event. Spread over two evenings in October, with Bharat Nivas auditorium bursting at its seams, more than 36 groups and soloists showed their talents.

Is Bharat Nivas coming alive again? For some years the area, which houses the activities of the Indian pavilion, has seemed dormant, but today old structures are being demolished and new building projects underway.

Dear Auroville Today Team, In your interview with Shri N. Bala Baskar published in the August issue of Auroville Today, you wrote: “No Tamil Nadu Chief Minister has ever visited Auroville”.

Dubbed a ‘Laboratory for Theatre Arts and Research’, Adhishakti , an experimental theatre company located near Auroville, pushes boundaries and provokes through its work, whilst being relevant to contemporary audiences in India.

Aurovilian of the first hour, Toshi (Santosh) Malik, wife of late Prem Malik, left her body on June 20th after a year’s illness in New Delhi.

Auroville has recently been hit heavily by the Communication Wave. The less sensitive may not have felt it so clearly, but the Really Advanced Aurovilians immediately recognised the special nature of this new vibe, and reacted to it, albeit in different ways.

Evening. Cutlery gleams on burgundy tablecloths. White-shirted waiters glide in and out, taking orders and delivering dishes with quiet panache.