Puducherry / Pondicherry

On 20 March, the Ministry of Education, responding to two Right to Information requests dated 25 and 26 February, sent the applicant a copy of the Minutes of the 68th Meeting of the Governing Board (GB) of the Auroville Foundation held on 5 December 2024, which have since been widely distributed in Auroville.

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.

From July 24th till August 18th, Savitri Bhavan hosted the exhibition ‘Darshan Messages’. It not only showcased the original cards from 1953 onwards, but also the evolution of the tradition of Darshan card gifting which has been stopped since January 2023.

Gajendran Karunanidhi suddenly passed away on July 1st due to cardiac arrest.

Michael Zelnick, originally from New York, joined the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in 1968 and later came to Auroville. Here he talks about his work as a homeopath.

Dr. Sharavanan Padmanabhan runs the Sri Aurobindo Siddha Research Foundation in Pondicherry. He first graduated as an allopathic doctor before specializing in Siddha medicine.

On April 1st, 2024, the Auroville Boutique in Pondicherry closed its operations. More than 50 years ago – the exact date is lost in history – it was started by the visionary André Tardeil who felt that an Auroville outlet cum information office in Pondicherry was necessary.

In April word spread that Frederick was seeking personal testimonies of what drew us to and kept us living in Auroville. He wrote, “In Delhi a senior friend and supporter of Auroville asked me: ‘What brought you to India 60 years ago?’

The Mother’s stay in Japan between 1916–1920 was not only of profound importance for her spiritual explorations, but might also have had a big influence upon the development of Auroville.

Paolo Tommasi passed away in JIPMER on July 16th due to the COVID-19 virus. He had just turned 92 years. Paolo was born in Ancona, Italy in 1928.

On 10th August, in Cinema Paradiso there was the premiere of a documentary, The Saints of Pondicherry, on an old people’s home for the destitute and homeless in Pondicherry, which was founded by Aurovilian Albert Zwaan who passed away some years ago.

Francis was one of the first settlers on the Auroville plateau. Since then, he has been involved in many activities in the community.

The community has no policy regarding how to handle tourism. Recently, visiting students studied the situation and made some recommendations.

Twenty years ago, generations of Aurovilians enjoyed the beaches and the sea. Now almost all the beaches and many Auroville houses have disappeared.

An important meeting in terms of planning for the larger bioregion took place on 11th September in Pondicherry. Hosted by Citizen’s Action Network, PondyCAN and the Puducherry Planning Authority, with participation of civil society from all the sub-regions, the consultation meeting was also addressed by Lt.

In a quiet back street of Edayanchavadi village there is a neat house. Beside it is a beautiful garden of plants and creepers with a magnificent statue of Ganesh.

On May 7th, the Land Protection Group presented in a public meeting its findings on the best way to protect the land needed for the Auroville township from unsolicited development.

I’ve been in Auroville since my marriage 26 years ago. I grew up in Chinnakottakuppam village on the backside of Forecomers, towards Pondicherry.

N. Saravanan of Matrimandir Nursery passed away on May 28th at the age of 43 due to an accident. He was crushed under the 25 feet high chariot car of the Panchali Amman Koil temple at Thilaspet.

On 20th November, The Hindu newspaper reported that an initiative had been launched to make Puducherry and Auroville the world’s first ‘Fair Trade Twin Towns’.

Albert Zwaan joined Auroville in 1997, after working for 20 years as the head of the outpatient department and operation theatre of a hospital in the Netherlands.

The name of Dominique Darr is indissolubly connected to the early days of Auroville. Who in Auroville doesn’t know her photo of a lone granite stone with the letters AV painted on it, marking Auroville land?

On 23rd January, 2010, for the French Pavilion, Alain Bernard gave a talk on the background and passing of the Auroville Foundation Act. Here is an edited version of the translation of that talk.

On October 12th, Auroville architect Ajit Koujalgi, aged 66, passed away in Apollo hospital in Chennai. He succumbed to the severe injuries he had sustained ten days earlier in a fall from the roof of his house in Samasti community.