Auroville always fascinated me as a child when I heard that there is a community that lives in the attempt of reflecting peace, sincerity and truth through united living in harmony. I always had questions like how and why Auroville is different whenever I had any discussion with people on Auroville until the time, I decided to pay a visit and stay as a guest myself. I also realized that Auroville is more than the intriguing golden globe that you see in pictures. My ultimate travel guide to Auroville will help you with everything a beginner wants to understand before visiting/volunteering at Auroville.
History of Auroville Cut Short
The Mother (Mirra Alfassa) who accepted Sri Aurobindo as her Guru, is the catalyst behind the current Auroville community in 1968. Auroville is a creation involving people living in unity from different cultures who aim to live their life in peace, harmony and achieve greater consciousness.
How to reach Auroville from Pondicherry?
Auroville is located in Tamil Nadu and about 10 km from Pondicherry.
Self-drive options to Auroville from Pondicherry
Whenever I had visited Pondicherry I had either rented out a two wheeler for Rs.300/day or I had driven down to Auroville by car.
Auto-rickshaws to Auroville from Pondicherry
You can hire auto rickshaws as well but at an expensive rate of Rs.700-1000 to and from Pondicherry.
Bus to Auroville from Pondicherry
The buses to Auroville are available at fixed times from Pondicherry bus stand. You can board buses to Auroville at 7.30am, 1.30pm and 4.30pm. The same buses return to Pondicherry at 8.15am, 2.15pm and 5.15pm.
Auroville taxis
You can hire Auroville taxis as well from Chennai and Pondicherry to Auroville. You have to fill out some forms in advance to book these taxis.
Commute within Auroville
If you are a guest then you can check with your guest house as they will have contacts who can help you rent a bicycle, scooter/motorcycle at Rs.60 and Rs.200 respectively.
I drove down to Auroville from Bangalore, so I commuted via car.
Best time to visit Auroville
Auroville is extremely hot and humid in summer. It is humid throughout the year as it is close to the sea. The nights are cool because of the dense plantations.
The preferred months to visit should be between Oct – Feb. This is also the time when the community receives a lot of tourists and volunteers.
Read also: Pondicherry – Must Read Travel Guide To The Erstwhile French Colony
Where to stay in Auroville?
Currently there are around 2000+ people living in Auroville but Auroville has the capacity to house 50,000 people.
There are many categories of stays available within Auroville for guests and in some you can book only if you stay for 2+ days. I stayed at Sharnga Guest House as they had a kitchen. Since I was travelling with my 6 months old baby girl having access to a kitchen was one of the deciding factors when choosing accommodation.
You can check out the registered accommodations within Auroville to shortlist on where to stay.
Note: Please also check the rules because every guest house has some criteria for booking.
Do you need an Aurocard?
Every resident/guest who stays in Auroville, is provided with an Aurocard. You can load money into it and take it around as I was told that there are few places within Auroville who still accept money only via Aurocard. I personally felt it was not helpful as everywhere I was able to use UPI/Google Pay.
Food at Auroville
There are 30 eateries within Auroville serving healthy and pesticide free food to relish. My personal favorities are Solitute Farm Café, Solar Kitchen, Sakura Sushi and La Terrace Café.
I tried bakes at Auroville Bakery and it was the WORST I’ve ever had. I would not recommend you visit this place. I saw that every table had food that was left wasted and I was wondering why, until I got my share of experiencing the taste/texture of the food served there.
The mode of transfer in these restaurants are Cash, UPI/Google Pay or Aurocard.
Places to visit in Auroville & Things to do at Auroville
Matrimandir
Visting Matrimandir from the visitor’s viewing point is free of cost and doesn’t require any pre-booking. You will have to watch a short screening about Matrimandir and then reach out to the Auroville Visitors Centre for a pass. You will have to take a 10-15 min walk guided by signs before reaching the viewing point of the golden globe. You will view the Matrimandir from the outside and at a distance.
People who face difficulty to walk can board their shuttles to the viewing point and there are also buses that can bring you back to the visitor’s centre.
Matrimandir Inner Chamber
If you are interested in experiencing the inner chamber of Matrimandir which is said to connect with self, there is a process to follow. You will have to apply for the slots at least 1 week before at the Auroville Visitors Centre. You can also check out this link as per the instructions given in it.
I wasn’t able to visit the inner chamber of Matrimandir since I travelled with my 6 month old and only kids above 10 are allowed inside.
Svaram Musical Instruments and Research
If you are a music enthusiast then Svaram is going to excite you without a doubt. They experiment with sound, instruments and healing properties of sound. They also educate people about it via their daily tours and scheduled workshops. You can also purchase instruments of your interest.
Auroville Bamboo Centre
You will be surprised to see what are the different items that can be made out of Bamboo at the Auroville Bamboo Centre. They conduct training and workshops as well.
Solitude Farm and Café Free Tour
Solitude Farm and Café focuses on farm to plate concept of food. Every Saturday at 11.30 am you can get to experience a free short tour of the Solitude farm to understand how they grow the indigenous food varieties. They also conduct scheduled workshops from 9.30am – 12.30pm every Wednesday and they also conduct weekend workshops.
Sadhana Forest Free Tour
Sadhana Forest focuses on sustainable living, reforestation and water conservation. It is a vibrant community of volunteers living a simple, sustainable life, very close to nature. All year-round volunteers visit and reside in Sadhana Forest.
Every Friday at 4.30 pm there is a free organic vegan dinner provided at Sadhana Forest. The bus for that leaves from Auroville’s Solar Kitchen at 4 pm. There are no pre-bookings required for this.
Auroville Beach
The beach is part of Auroville and it is also maintained by them. It is very close to Serenity beach and often crowded by tourists in the early mornings and evenings.
How can I volunteer at Auroville?
There are about 20 farms in Auroville which has varied moto in achieving sustainable and organic food produce which benefits the consumers of the produce overall. There are many farms who conduct regular scheduled workshops as well.
You can visit the individual webpages of the farms in Auroville to contact the people who run the farms. You can also choose to write to farmgroup@auroville.org.in cc-ing study@auroville.org.in. In both the cases you will be expected to give a short introduction about yourself, where you are from, if or what kind of experience you have in farming along with your expected dates and duration of stay in Auroville.
It is also said that Nov-Feb is the peak tourist season considering the tropical climate of India and the volunteer slots get booked pretty quick. You will have to be mindful of this fact if you would like to also book for volunteering during this time of the year.
Earlier there was a dry tropical evergreen forest on the entire eastern coast of Tamil Nadu which now people aren’t aware of. Auroville has revived these lands and has made barren land fertile. It is a gift to humanity. I would want to visit Auroville and volunteer once again when my daughter grows up.
Though I have mixed opinion about the unspoken fact that only wealthy people can afford to live in Auroville. The land in Auroville has to be purchased and your house has to be constructed for your living but you don’t own that house anymore the day you decide to leave Auroville. This doesn’t settle well with me but if this is the concept of Auroville then so it is.
Nevertheless, everything else about it is awe-inspiring to me and for many others who visit Auroville to volunteer from all around the world.
Read also: My other travel posts from Tamil Nadu
