Visitors

A new team – Axum, Elene, and Malcolm – has recently stepped forward to manage the African Pavilion, one of the more prominent pavilions in Auroville’s International Zone, due both to its high-visibility location next to the Visitors’ Centre and its regular cultural events.

What does Auroville represent to its immediate neighbours? To the average person in Pondicherry? To the average tourist? Despite it being a popular sightseeing destination on the Pondicherry itinerary, how is this town and its inhabitants viewed and understood by many Indians?

One of the most popular images of Auroville in the local press and social media is that of the bonfires in the Amphitheatre that are organized annually to celebrate Auroville’s and Sri Aurobindo’s birthdays.

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

Professor Ajay Agarwal was the supervisor of this year’s group of graduate students from Queen’s University, Canada. He initiated the original programme six years ago and since then has accompanied five groups of graduate students to do research on different topics in Auroville.

Looking at some of the old issues of Auroville Today, it’s fascinating to see how some of the articles could have been written just last week.

Tourism in Auroville has increased considerably over the years. What is its impact upon the community? Does it help or harm us? Should it be controlled and, if so, how?

From comments on Auronet and casual conversations, it is evident that quite a number of Aurovilians are not looking forward to the 50th birthday celebrations.

Auroville’s Galaxy Plan is marked by so-called ‘Lines of Force’, long building structures. The Line of Goodwill is a project to build the longest Line of Force of the Galaxy Plan, which extends from the outer ring road near the Visitors Centre parking to the edge of the planned Matrimandir Lake.

On April 01, 2009, John, Elumalai, Pierre and Srimoyi took charge as executives of the Matrimandir. On July 31st, after more than 8 years of dedicated service, their term of office is coming to an end.