I visited Auroville and Matri Mandir way back in 2011. (Read my initial impressions). Now again, I feel like I have visited the place in my conversations with Yogini (@penned.perceptions on Instagram).
Recently on my YouTube channel, I discussed Auroville with Yogini who has been staying there for over 3 months now. One of the key questions I had from my previous visit (and the visits of some of my relatives) was how to have an immersive experience of the place. Beyond simply visiting for a few days and seeing the place.
Auroville can be pretty surreal on our first visit. It is a mix of forest and urban living. There are many different communities within the ashram which feel quite disjointed until we understand how it all works. So, I was really looking forward to chatting with Yogini and understanding the place better 🙂
Here, Yogini gives her views,
After talking to Yogini, I now have more of an idea of how I can visit Auroville in a way that allows an immersive experience.
Here’s the Auroville website section that helps us with the various logistics,
Stay: there is quite a long list of accommodation types in the center. It looks really exciting and once this COVID-19 situation gets sorted, I am feeling very inclined to plan a trip here. https://guesthouses.auroville.org
Many of the guesthouses want a slightly longer stay of a week or so. While others are ok with one day booking. So this allows us to choose what suits us. Some have an attached kitchen (great for digital nomads like me who want to stay for longer). So when you are planning your visit, delve into this guesthouse list and pick one that makes sense for you.
For an immersive visit, I feel one should stay for at least 15 days if longer trips of 1 or 2 months is not possible.
Activity: there are a whole list of interesting study courses, workshops, therapies, farm work and volunteer opportunities. I think one or a mix and match of a few things should be an interesting experience.
Choosing an activity option is really important I feel because it provides an easy way to interact with different people in Auroville. If we don’t plan or enroll for an activity, we are completely dependent on serendipitious meetings, which may or may not happen. I would suggest enrolling for some activity that lets us involve ourselves further in Auroville, but also gives us enough free time to explore on our own. And leaves us with room to choose another activity later on.
One of the biggest attractions of Auroville at this point for me is the access to nature and forest areas. Because of the COVID-19 lockdown situation I haven’t been able to go on any of my long distance trips, cycling or otherwise. And thus, I have been too surrounded by urban areas. I think me and a lot of others are looking for some nature time. And Auroville seems a lovely avenue for that.
The second video of my talk with Yogini is also up now. She tells us about her typical day in Auroville, whether there are any spiritual practices or teachings that need to be followed when we are there and so on…
Subscribe to my YouTube channel, InSpirituality for more interesting conversations around spiritual spaces and lifestyle.
Hope this blog post helps you plan a super duper trip to Auroville 🙂
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