The 14th and 15th of July '01 saw the inauguration of `Mohanam', a cultural centre in Sanjeevinagar, one of Auroville's neighbouring villages. 'Mohanam' is a special place which represents so much of what is being endeavoured here. Its name means beauty or attraction in Tamil.
The centre is the work and realisation of a group of young men from the surrounding villages. They are eleven young Tamil men who work in Auroville, from different villages and castes, who regularly come together as a 'youth club' and had wanted to create a meeting place in the village to be a bridge between the traditional and the modern, the old and the young, between what is happening in Auroville and what is unfolding in the villages.

Cultural heritage centre

Together with Austrian Aurovilian Aurelio of AVAG they found one of the oldest, most traditional houses in Sanjeevinagar, and spent six weeks painstakingly restoring it to its original charm. After their day jobs in Auroville, the young men would go and spend every evening slowly stripping down and restoring each part of the building, taking care to maintain and preserve all its traditional features. In contrast with what normally happens in the rush to modernisation, the beauty and sense of the past has been preserved. But not as a dusty museum to times past, instead in the form of a cultural heritage centre, bringing the rich arts of Tamil Nadu back to the villages.

Original style of building, cooking, healing, etc.

The traditional style of Tamil houses is such that there is a large open space in the centre with rooms opening on each side. In Mohanam this central space will play host to performances, music, singing, storytelling, dance and much more. The original style kitchen will offer a place for people to come and learn the traditional art of cooking, including the special dishes for festivals, and the healthy foods once cooked. There are rooms for meetings and for traditional healers to come, as well as space for guests who wish to experience life in the warm heart of a Tamil village.

From Panchayat leaders to a venerable Swamiji

On the Saturday and Sunday of the inauguration of the new centre the atmosphere and feeling of the place was well established, as village elders, young men who worked on the project, and Aurovilians, came together for an invocation, music and meditation. Traditional musicians filled the air with drumming and violin, Aurelio sang a raga, and this meeting between east and west, old and new, was closed with the playing of an Australian Didgeridoo! Many people, from Panchayat leaders to a venerable Swamiji, shared their blessings on the occasion and expressed their great appreciation that somewhere like this had been created.

A bridge…

Culture is an expression of the soul and a manifestation of the divine force through artistic expression. Mohanam provides a place for villagers and Aurovillians to share in their expression of the divine, and to be a real bridge between the past and the future, as Mother intended. Aurovillians and local people with knowledge and skills to offer will come to share hatha yoga, traditional healing, meditation, ecological harmony, health awareness and much more, with people who wish to come and learn.

Turning point

On display at the house are also traditional pots, tools, paintings and old photographs for people to see, and it is envisioned that exhibitions and other sorts of display could be mounted also. It feels like an exciting and heartening turning point in the
re-kindling of arts, culture and community, with Auroville and the villagers coming together.

Contact: aurelio@auroville.org.in