Listen voices of your inner self

A visit to Aurobindo Ashram is a must. The Ashram opens at 8 in the morning. There is Samadhi of Sri Arobindo and The Mother. The Samadhi is bedecked with flowers. It gave me great joy and peace sitting near the Samadhi on meditation. I also participated in the evening Mass Meditation held around the Samadhi.The next important place in Pondichery is Auroville. Based upon the work and inspiration of Sri Aurobindo and given shape by The Mother, Auroville is intended as a site for the manifestation of human unity in diversity.

Inside auroville they are totally committed to non-conventional energy. Wind farm and solar photovoltaic systems are used. It seems inside the complex they don’t allow any motor vehicle. Only battery operated vehicles ply to commute the old and invalids to the Matrimandir. From the Reception center of Auroville to the Matrimandir one need to take a walk of one Kilometer. I took full advantage of this gentle walk through forest of various known and unknown plants and trees inhaling all the greenery around there with each breath. As all the visitors were busy in refreshing themselves at the information centre, I was the sole person walking through the forest.

There was a kind of peaceful silence all around except the sound of a woodpecker somewhere unseen. The flowering trees were in full bloom at the peak of spring. It seems this whole land of 25 square kms were dry land and was converted to such a beautiful forest by the auroville community. What a great creation! Now a days in the midst of chaotic human tendency of destroying natural resources in the name of development, it is a great achievement of human spirit to create such a nice environment.

The center of Auroville is a Banyan tree circling which the total development of the community is planned. Near that banyan tree is the Golden Globe of Matrimandir. As the Matrimandir was under renovation, we had to comeback without seeing the inside of it. It seems there is meditation hall at the center of the Matrimandir. A single crystal globe is kept at the center of this meditation hall. The meditation hall is illuminated by the sun rays falling on this crystal globe from an opening on the top of the Matrimandir.We sat on the nearby amphitheatre. The marble urn of lotus bud shape, in which the earth collected from 124 countries around the world are kept, is at the center of the amphitheatre. The tour of Auroville was so invigorating that my mind was not ready to comeback so soon. But one has to come back to earth.

If you want to have a quiet vacation, to speak only to the gentle waves of sea, to listen voices of your inner self, to glimpse unforgettable scenes of sun rising over the sea, to walk through the green forest, to alleviate your mind and spirit to a different level, you must visit Pondichery. posted by bikash 10:10 AM