by Sezgin | Jan 9, 2015 | SeedsonWheels |
After leaving Sadhana, we have visited Pondicherry and Madurai in India before going to Sri Lanka for the second month of our journey in Asia. Pondicherry (Puducherry) is a small settlement, which was a colony of France before. It’s tidy, clean and calm streets still has the French spirit. We feel like we are travelling in a small town in Mediterranean while we were walking in the French Quarter with elegant boutique shops. Botanical Garden next to the train station is a nice and informative recreation area. You can take a short tour with the tiny train in it and travel in your childhood. Another important spot of the city is Lakshmi, the Ganesh Temple which is at the center of the city. Even though it has nothing interesting but the poor elephant who is brought here every day about 4 pm, it is a place visited by many people. Sri Aurobindo Ashram that is close to the temple is founded by Sri Aurobindo, the creator of the idea of Auroville with The Mother, who played an important role in Indian History. Now it serves as a museum for visitors… Besides the open canalization passing through the middle of the city, the clean view of Pondicherry is seen in restaurants also. Food in the restaurant called Bombay Anandha Bhaven, in which we usually ate, is pretty tasty and affordable. There is another Anandha Bhaven, closer to the temple, which is more “touristic”. For accommodation, we recommend Natura Ashram. The guesthouse, with the option of private and shared rooms, is both cheap and clean. The founder of the Ashram is...
by Sezgin | Dec 14, 2014 | SeedsonWheels |
After Chennai and Mahabalipuram, we have been to Auroville. Auroville, a couple of kms away from Pondicherry (Puducherry –most of the cities have two names as before and after independence-), is an alternative living project, open to everybody all around the world, which is founded by The Mother (Mirra Alfassa) and following her principles. Like anybody else, who visits Auroville for the first time, we go to Visitor’s Centre first. Our exploration begins after settling in one of the guesthouses of Auroville. Population of Auroville, which is designed for 50.000 people to live in a self-sustainable way, is about 2500 at present. Because of that, settlements are dispersed and far from each other, also not completely self-sustainable yet. Both visitors and residents are riding motorbikes in Auroville, but we prefer to rent a bicycle. At the center of the settlement, there is Matrimandir, the symbol of Auroville. To enter the building, which is designed like a huge globe, reservation is needed. It is all white inside, as it’s mostly made by using marble, and white socks are given to the visitors. At the center of the globe, meditation room stands. In the middle of the room, there is a small glass globe, in which the vision of the sky is reflected by the optical mirrors at the top of the building. For the landscape of the garden of Matrimandir, a lot of work has done. At the center of the garden, a huge and old banyan tree exists. For us, it’s enough for meditation and simpler. Town Hall, the governing center of Auroville, and Solar Kitchen, where the community...
