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Communities in alphabetic order
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Center guesthouse
(Centre Field)
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Housing & Communities
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| Name of the
community : |
Center
guesthouse |
| Number of
houses : |
14 houses |
| Number of
people : |
3
Aurovilians, 12 employees |
| Date of
creation : |
Late 70's |
| Guest houses
: |
centerguesthouse@auroville.org.in |
More details :
 The Center Guesthouse is not really a
community: it's one of Auroville's most popular guesthouses.
It's located in the centre of Auroville, at a walking distance
from the Matrimandir. We provide a 'homely' atmosphere under a
large banyan tree. Most of the rooms are quite simple, with
common bathroom. We have 3 rooms with bathroom attached, one
with A/C.
Prices range from Rs.300 to Rs. 550 per
person per day (exclusive A/C), which includes 3 meals,
laundry and cycle rental. Mopeds can be hired from us for an
additional charge.
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Certitude
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Housing & Communities
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| Name of the
community : |
Certitude |
| Number of
houses : |
25 houses |
| Number of
people : |
40 (34
adults, 6 children) |
| Number of
nationalities : |
10 |
| Number of
wells : |
2 |
| Date of
creation : |
1970 onwards |
| Guesthouse
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N/A |
More details :
 Originally known in the 1970s as 'Auroson's
Home', the community (located entirely in the GreenBelt,
south-south-east of the Matrimandir) was renamed in 1978 to
avoid the confusion between the house/building of 'Auroson's
Home' (one of the first buildings in Auroville, certainly the
first in the area) and the rest of the community. The
inspiration for the name came from a photo of the Mother
illustrating that particular state of being. It seemed
appropriate for a community which had by then established its
permanency, with proper houses as opposed to the keet
structures which were still then being put up in other parts
of Auroville, and was now feeling 'certain' of itself and its
future as a residential site within the greater community. (At
one point it got the nickname 'Seven Fridges' at a time when
there was a well-known GreenBelt area known as Seven Banyans!)
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Dana
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Housing & Communities
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| Name of the
community : |
Dana |
| Number of
houses : |
12 houses and
2 newcomer houses |
| Number of
people : |
27 adults and
10 children |
| Date of
creation : |
1982 |
| Guesthouse : |
N/A |
| E-mail
contact : |
claude@auroville.org.in |
More details :
 Dana means 'gift' in Sanskrit. This
community, at the very entrance of the Cultural Zone, was
started by some members of a theatre troupe who used to
perform and live in Auroville. By now, most of them have left.
Dana is worth visiting for its pottery (there are three of
them now), still using manual techniques and wood fire.
Just behind the residential part of Dana, on one side the
Greenbelt starts and on the other side a large, new sports
complex is coming up, where all children from Transition
School have their daily sports activities at 4 pm. This makes
the place lively and a bit noisy till 6 pm, after which the
community returns to its original peace.
The houses in Dana are very different from each other since
most of the people who built there were artists and had their
own ideas on what they wanted.
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Discipline
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Housing & Communities
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| Name of the
community : |
Discipline |
| Number of
houses : |
3 houses |
| Number of
people : |
5 adults |
| Date of
creation : |
1968 |
| Guesthouse
: |
Yes |
| E-mail
contact : |
meike@auroville.org.in |
More details :
 Since the beginning of 1994 Jeff
(Australian) has been running Discipline farm (begun by the
residents around 1968 with intensive soil-building input),
which is situated near the village Alankuppan, on the northern
edge of the Greenbelt. The farm consists of 34 acres of land;
1-2 acres irrigated crops such as fruits (coconut, banana,
guava, chikoo and citrus), cow fodder and vegetables, all
linked to an extensive drip system and solar pump set, and 5
1/2 acres of dryland, mainly mangos. The rest is forested.
There is a dairy of 8 cows, 4 heifers and a small poultry. The
farm annually grows monsoon-fed red rice, and occasionally
other field crops like millets and sesame. They are gradually
increasing the number of fruit tree varieties. The community
has begun using a biogas converter, donated by CSR, for its
cooking fuel needs. Accommodation for farm volunteers is
sometimes available.
Not all people living in Discipline take care of the farm.
Some have a very different work in other areas of Auroville.
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Djaima
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Housing & Communities
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| Name of the
community : |
Djaima |
| Number of
houses : |
12 houses and
a big newcomer complex (17 apartments) |
| Number of
people : |
20 adults and
5 children |
| Date of
creation : |
1978 |
| Guesthouse : |
N/A |
| E-mail
contact : |
sidusha@auroville.org.in |
More details:
The place started with 16 acres of
land meant for an experiment on ecological farming. Until
recently this was quite a success, but nowadays none of its
residents is into farming. Little by little, the horses, the
cows, the chickens, all that made this place a farm,
disappeared.
Djaima, which has very good topsoil, still has a great fruit
garden (mango trees, papaya, ramfall, sitafall, orange, guava
trees) and some vegetables.
They have a solar panel powered pump set on their bore well,
with an electric generator as a backup. The project is not
self-supporting at this time but Kumar would like to extend
the operation with more cows and more intensive cultivation of
the land.
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Douceur
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Housing & Communities
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| Name of the
community : |
Douceur |
| Number of
houses : |
7 houses |
| Number of
people : |
12 adults and
6 children |
| Date of
creation : |
1970 |
| Guesthouse : |
N/A |
| E-mail
contact : |
N/A |
More details :
Douceur is essentially a residential
community with self-contained houses. The well known and much
appreciated Auroville Bakery is located in this settlement as
well.
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Existence
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Housing & Communities
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| Name of the
community : |
Existence |
| Number of
houses : |
2 |
| Number of
people : |
4 |
| Date of
creation : |
1978 |
| Guesthouse : |
No |
| E-mail
contact : |
No |
More details:
The people living here are Ana from
Spain and her 2 daughters. Ana is an artist (photos and
drawings; and Matriprasad (from France) is involved in
Greenwork.
We lead a simple life, practice sadhana, refrain from
publicity, and hope you can respect this.
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Felicity
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Housing & Communities
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| Name of the
community : |
Felicity |
| Number of
houses : |
5 houses (2
guesthouse, 1 newcomer unit) |
| Number of
people : |
2 adults |
| Date of
creation : |
1990 |
| Guesthouse
: |
3
houses which can host about 8 guests |
| E-mail
contact : |
N/A |
More details:
 Felicity consists of 5 plots with
private houses. They share the water-well.
Only two of the houses are occupied by Aurovilian residents,
one house is designated for newcomers, and the others are kept
for regular guests.
Juanita from USA takes care of the main guesthouse, and Franco
(Italy) has also a small guesthouse on his plot.
The place is very elegant and
beautiful, and there are fruit trees all over the place.
Juanita loves her little farm and grows vegetables and salads
which she happily shares with Auroville.
Each guesthouse has its own fully
equipped kitchen and bathroom. Laundry facilities are
available.
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Fertile Forest
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Housing & Communities
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| Community
name : |
Fertile
Forest |
| Number of
houses : |
one house and
one "treatment house" |
| Number of
people : |
one |
| Date the
community started : |
end of the
seventies |
| Guesthouse
: |
Yes |
| E-mail
contact : |
turiya@auroville.org.in |
More details :
This community started as a field of
local crops on which an Aurovilian family came to live. It is
at the edge of the forest.
There are no common facilities. The pucca guesthouse, has a
bathroom, a well-equipped kitchen, two bedrooms and a terrace.
There is a shed for the vehicles, and the possibility to rent
a moped and a cycle. It runs on solar energy only, and there
is a large rainwater collection tank, which is to be emptied
with a solar pump. However, the solar power is not always
enough for the houses and the solar pump.
The 'treatment house' is a small house for massage therapy.
There is a small fruit garden, and many trees and shrubs have
been planted. The idea is to make flower essences based on the
meaning of flowers as given by the Mother, to be used like the
Bach flower essences.
Price for the guesthouse is 250 rupees per person/day, and for
accommodation of several months, 100 rupees per person/day.
The moped is 50 rupees a day and the cycle 20 rupees a day.
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Fertile Windmill
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Housing & Communities
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| Community
name : |
Fertile
Windmill |
| Number of
houses : |
Twelve,
including guesthouses |
| Number of
people : |
permanent six |
| Date the
community started : |
1971 |
| Guesthouse
: |
Yes, seven
with bedding for twelve people |
| E-mail
contact : |
vijay@auroville.org.in |
More details :
We have a common kitchen. It is used
only for the guests when we have any, and to make the tea for
the workers. We have two sets of solar panels, now a bit old
and not in very good condition. If I use their electricity for
the computer nobody else has any electricity at night, so I am
forced to charge some batteries with a noisy generator to be
able to use the computer. We have hundreds of fruit trees,
mainly mangoes and guavas. However, as the land was pretty
dead and without any topsoil when I first came, and because
the water level is very low, we don't get all that many
fruits. We have just come to see the trees as forest trees,
which also give us occasionally some fruits..
For guests we have two capsules
(bamboo-thatch structures) for 150 rupees a day, and
ferrocement domes for Rs 200 - 250, including three meals a
day.
Basically, the Fertile Windmill
settlement passed through several stages:
1971 to the end of 1974 - pioneer stage - Mother sends names
to plant trees - I lived in a 200 rupees capsule and walked
every day to the neighbouring Fertile community to get a pot
of water until the Windmill came up. Began joyfully planting a
zillion trees.
End 1974 to middle of '76 - I go to Australia to make some
money to plant more trees.
Middle 1976 to about 1983 - I came back from Australia with
Dee (now Bhavana) and Ann, more and more tree planting,
fencing and bunding the land, up to close to the Matrimandir
and to Kottakarai, anti-erosion and water conservation works.
1983 up to 1997 - starting the gemstones and jewellery unit to
support Fertile Windmill. Various people came to stay
declaring their intention to help. Two are still here. We have
learned to be careful to whom to open the door, and hope that,
one day, the right people will come. Work consists mostly of
earning the money to support the forest and the community.
1997 - The direction is now to make here a Healing centre,
and, once another way is found to support the forest and the
community, to gradually altogether abandon the commercial
activity.
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Fraternity
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Housing & Communities
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| Name of the
community : |
Fraternity |
| Number of
houses : |
11 houses and
1 guesthouse |
| Number of
people : |
14 adults |
| Date of
creation : |
1980 |
| Guesthouse
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Yes, 1 house
(2 rooms) |
| E-mail
contact : |
N/A |
More details:
Situated close to Kuilapalayam (a
large village in Auroville's bioregion), the purpose of this
community was to be a centre for the villages' development
(training, employment, education), to be instrumental towards
improvement in nutrition, hygiene and standard of living.
It now has become an industrial settlement where several
handicraft units (toys, craft, hand made paper, printing…)
are settled. The community has a residential part and a part
for the working spaces.
Behind the working area is the Youth Camp where lots of young
Tamilians from the surrounding villages live on the way of
becoming member of Auroville.
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Gaia
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Housing & Communities
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| Name of the
community : |
Gaia |
| Number of
houses : |
8 houses |
| Number of
people : |
10 adults and
14 children |
| Date of
creation : |
In the 70's |
| Guesthouse
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No |
| E-mail
contact : |
N/A |
More details :
Located close to the Matrimandir,
Gaia was started as a semi-greenbelt settlement with the aim
to regenerate the land and develop the Mahakali Park. The
houses are spaced at least 50 m. apart and there is little
communal activity. Members of Gaia essentially act as good
neighbours, each doing their own thing in the context of
Auroville as they see it!
Gaia uses alternative energy systems, -wind for pumping the
water and solar for supplying electricity. Now and then, a
dissident member grumbles that life would be easier with
electricity from the grid, but so far this movement has not
found much support.
It is to be expected however that the concept of Gaia as a
community is likely to change given the current development of
the Cultural Zone and the Residential Zone which lie on either
side of it. This of course is true for any community that
started as an isolated entity but is now about to be
'engulfed' by Auroville's growth.
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Gaia's garden
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Housing & Communities
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| Name of the
community : |
Gaia's garden |
| Number of
houses : |
3 houses |
| Number of
people : |
5 adults |
| Date of
creation : |
End of 1998 |
| Guesthouse
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7 units that
can host about 10 guests |
| E-mail
contact : |
N/A |
More details :
Gaia's Garden is an ecological
settlement. They take great care of the gardens and have many
plants, and use solar power as well as conventional power
supply. It has one big guesthouse mainly for long-term guest
or newcomers.
Guests can share the community kitchen and dining room, but
have to arrange for the food supply and preparation
themselves. There is space for about 10 persons. All the rooms
have a private shower and bathroom. Prices go from 120 to 500
rupees a day, depending on the unit.
Besides the guesthouse, there are
two private houses. Some three years ago we separated from
Auromodele because we felt that we had nothing in common with
the residents there, although our houses have the same kind of
structure.
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Grace
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Housing & Communities
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| Name of the
community : |
Grace |
| Number of
houses : |
13 houses and
2 Newcomer units |
| Number of
people : |
17 adults and
5 children |
| Date of
creation : |
1979 |
| Guesthouse : |
No |
| E-mail
contact : |
No |
More details :
Grace is located in the residential
zone and is more a 'neighbourhood' than a community. The
people living here all like and appreciate each other, but
don't do very many things together, each having his/her own
field of activity (architecture, teaching, musicians,
translators, painters, working at Matrimandir etc..). Whenever
a policy decision needs to be taken, or some problem needs to
be solved, we have a community meeting in one of our houses or
out in the open, some 4, 5 times a year. A large water
recycling plant is functioning perfectly and one house is
entirely solar empowered. The nationalities of Grace's
permanent residents are presently American (2), Australian
(1), British (1), Canadian (2), French (2), Indian (1),
Italian (4), Dutch (1), German (8). In the near future more
houses will be built.
At the entrance of Grace there lives a Tamil family who are
our friends of many, many years.
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