International Advisory Council (IAC)

In early September 2025, a number of long-standing residents and duly-appointed community representatives received emails from the AVFO’s ‘Admissions and Termination Scrutinizing Committee’ and ‘Admissions and Terminations Registry’.

Since the news that the AVFO has signed an MoU with IIT Madras, agreeing to hand over 100 acres of Auroville’s certified organic farmland in order to build a ‘sustainability campus’, support for Annapurna Farm has poured in from many different quarters.

Dear Residents of Auroville, This month we complete our four-year term as members of the International Advisory Council of the Auroville Foundation.

Letter from three members of the Auroville International Advisory Council to the Chairman, Auroville Foundation, regarding Annapurna Farm & and the Memorandum of Understanding with the IIT Madras.

“Auroville will be a place of unending education”, says its Charter. The entirety of Auroville is envisioned by The Mother as an evolving educational campus encompassing all facets of life.

It all started in September 1998. Jean-François and I were at home when a group of teenagers, familiar faces from the Auroville schools, walked in with a quiet determination.

Concerned residents have called on the Governing Board, International Advisory Council and Secretary of the Auroville Foundation to instruct Aurinoco, the Auroville unit which created a fibre optic network in Auroville with GOI grants, to halt forcing a single connectivity upon all subscribers.

On 20 April the Working Committee selected by the Residents’ Assembly (RA-WCom) shared with the community a letter it had written on 16 April to the members of the Governing Board, copied to the members of the Auroville International Advisory Council.

In the previous issue of Auroville Today we published the major considerations and decisions of the Governing Board as reported in the minutes of its 67th Governing Board meeting held in Auroville on 31 May 2024.

As I was looking through the minutes of the last Governing Board meeting regarding proposed changes to the Auroville Foundation Act, I recalled that when the Act was originally being prepared, there were already two different tendencies.

On 27 February 2025, at the invitation of Mr. Koshy Varghese, a group of seven residents met with the Secretary, the OSD, Dr. Seetharaman, and the consultant for visa matters, Mr.

In two events in early February, residents visited the Auroville Foundation Office to express their deep concerns about the loss of Auroville land near Evergreen community and to request the Auroville Foundation Office to appeal the judgement in which ownership of the land, which had been in Auroville's ownership for 30 years, was passed to a property developer.

“In this as in all great human aspirations and endeavours, an a priori declaration of impossibility is a sign of ignorance and weakness. For by the doing the difficulty will be solved.”

Dr Federico Mayor Zaragoza, a former member of the Auroville International Advisory Council, passed away on 19 December. A scientist and professor (biochemistry / pharmacy), Dr Mayor was Minister of Education during the first period of the current Spanish democracy and presided over UNESCO as Director-General for twelve years.

On November 11th, an article in the Times of India mentioned that the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (All India Anna Dravidian Progressive Federation - AIADMK), currently the main opposition party in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, which has great influence in the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry, demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India's primary domestic crime-investigating agency, into the alleged irregularities in land exchanges at Auroville.

In light of an interview published in Auroville Today’s October issue that presented a perspective on Auroville’s current governance situation, we feel it necessary to offer a different view that more accurately reflects the experiences and concerns of many in our community.

The Chairman and Secretary of the Auroville International Governing Board have written to the Director-General of UNESCO regarding ‘disturbing developments’ in Auroville.

On June 9th, the Auroville International Advisory Council (IAC) shared with the community that during a joint meeting with the GB on May 31st, it had called for a more transparent and inclusive land exchange process.

There have been many requests for clarity on the background and status of the numerous court cases that are pending in various courts in India, including in the Supreme Court of India, regarding the present situation in Auroville.

The earliest mention of Auroville was in the monthly issue of the Sri Aurobindo Society (SAS) Information Letter of March 1965, where its General Secretary Navajata wrote: “You will be glad to know that the Mother has taken up the model township project.

The Working Committee of the Residents’ Assembly (RA-Wcom) has sent an extensive response to the Governing Board and its Secretary regarding the content of the minutes of the 66th meeting of the Governing Board [see Avtoday # 415 page 3, February 2024, eds.]

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.

Issued by two members of the International Advisory Council and supported by eight International personalities

This 280 page book is a tribute to Kireet Joshi composed by two of his close Auroville friends, Frederick Schulze Buxloh and Alain Bernard.

On 27th February, in a ceremony in Delhi, The Auroville Foundation and Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to foster cross-cultural understanding and promote artistic exchanges and to advance the teachings and vision of Sri Aurobindo.

On the 4th January, many people were shocked to see many Service trees (Peltophorum pterocarpum/ Copper Pod tree) being felled on the Crown between the Solar Kitchen and Mahalakshmi Home.

This statement, issues on 4th January 2024, is issued in response to the indiscriminate feeling of numerous trees apparently for road construction, currently taking place in Auroville.

The Working Committee of the Residents’ Assembly (RA-WCom) has sent its concerns and a rebuttal of the recent land exchange involving Auro Orchard land to the Governing Board and the International Advisory Council.

So far, over 350 concerned Auroville residents have signed a petition to te GB and IAC expressing their profound discontent with the recent actions and policies implemented by the GB-FAMC and their loss of confidence in the GB-FAMC’s ability to effectively manage the community’s finances and assets.

On 16th February, the Unity Pavilion was full. There was huge interest because it was the first time in the last seven years that residents had met in an open meeting with an International Advisory Council (IAC).

Gabi Gillessen qualified as a yoga teacher in 1997, and is Chairperson and Senior Tutor of the Irish Yoga Association, running teacher training programmes.

H.P. Rama is a successful hotelier based in the U.S. He is also a devotee of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, and has founded a university – AURO University – in Surat based upon the former’s educational principles.

Ms. Dena Merriam, who has been elected the Chairperson of the Auroville International Advisory Council, is the founder and coordinator of the Global Peace Initiative for Women (GPIW), an international network of spiritual and community leaders that builds interfaith understanding and develops leadership in young community leaders concerning climate change.

Michel Danino is a French-born Indian scholar of ancient Indian civilization, history and culture. He authored The Lost River: On the Trail of the Sarasvati (Penguin Books, 2010), Indian Culture and India’s Future (DK Printworld, 2011), and edited Sri Aurobindo and India’s Rebirth (Rupa, 2018).

According to the Auroville Foundation Act, the International Advisory Council (IAC), which is the third component of the Auroville Foundation, has the responsibility to advise the Governing Board on any matter relating to the development of Auroville.

Manoj Pavithran is an integral yoga practitioner, educator and filmmaker. He was drawn to Sri Aurobindo in 1989 and eventually joined Auroville in 1995.

Some time ago, Ms Dena Merriam, Chairperson of the International Advisory Council (IAC), approached Raghu Ananthanarayanan with the approval of the Governing Board (GB) to see if he could help in identifying the next steps towards healing and dialogue in Auroville.

The Chairman of the Governing Board and Hon’ble Governor of Tamil Nadu, Shri R.N Ravi, accompanied by three members of the Governing Board, Smt.

At the recommendation of Dena Meriam, Chairperson of International Advisory Council, the Governing Board and Secretary, Auroville Foundation, Mr.

Under the Auroville Foundation Act, there are three statutory authorities who jointly administer and manage the Foundation and they are a) Governing Body, b) International Advisory Council and c) Residents Assembly and all the three are having well defined powers and one cannot override the power of the other. – Excerpt from the discussion section of the judgment

For me, it was an absolute delight to listen to Kireet Bhai on the governance of Auroville. He, so beautifully, explains it in the larger light of Sri Aurobindo’s vision.

Mandakini Gupta, a former student of the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education (Ashram school) in Puducherry, was a member of the Working Committee from December 2014 to December 2019 and has been active in the areas of Auroville’s internal conflict resolution and governance.

The Governing Board of the Auroville Foundation held a meeting at Auroville on January 18th. Members of the International Advisory Council submitted their views on-line.

This small book is a recollection of J.R.D. Tata’s involvement with Auroville as well as a meditative reflection by the author, Frederick (Friedrich Schulze Buxloh), of his very special relationship with this great man, one of India’s foremost industrialists who in 1992 was awarded India’s highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, for his contribution to India’s development as the head of the then largest industrial conglomerate.

To respected members of the Governing Board... Dear Aurovilians... Dear Dr. Jayanti Ravi... Dear friends of the Auroville Working Committee...

On October this year, the Ministry of Education of the Government of India appointed Auroville’s new Governing Board and new International Advisory Council.

In February this year the community selected new members for four major working groups. Christine asked Carel, whose term of office has come to an end after serving two terms in the Working Committee, about his 6-years’ experience.

On 1st January, 2020, Auro e-Books () published Auroville: Sun-Word Rising – A Trust for the Earth. This seminal work on Auroville’s early history was first published in 1979.