I am just back from a weekend tour to Pondicherry. But I must say that two days is not enough to feel and realize the serenitythat Pondicherry shares with the universe. The long beach walk and sitting on the rocks in the early
morning waiting for the Sun to release its first light on the costal part of
the territory is something that you can long cherish. Walking through the roads
in and around the Main Ashram building is like getting a feeling of French
sense of city planning, their love for beauty. The Ashram related buildings
which almost occupies a part of the territory’s coastal area, the Raj Niwas (once
the residence of the Governor General Duplex and now the Governor’s building),
the Government Museum all together gives a taste of
French legacy. The Bharati
Park at the heart of the
Ashram territory not only complements the French sense of city building but
also is a store house of fresh breeze with lush green and enough scope and
space to refresh oneself. It seems to be a paradise for children with lots of
playing items and that too well maintained without bothering the visitors with
tickets.
We stayed in the Ashram Guest house that too without prior booking. The Central
Bureau is of great help for any kind of information. And I must mention the
polite behaviour the ashramites shares with the visitors is only the reflection
of their inner peace and the brotherhood that they have achieved living in the ashram.
The atmosphere in and around the ashram is peaceful and the ashramites whether
they are aged or young , man or women all share their part of duty toward the
ashram and humanity in general in a very happy mood. It truly reflects the
ashram Charter that the ashram is not a property of any individual but to
humanity in general. Throughout the area one will find people from different
parts of the world and strikingly one will find aged people not leaning on
their sticks but riding bicycle and living with a purpose. The Ashram gave them
a purpose to live with the little contribution they make by serving humanity.
The short video on Auroville and Matri mandir is only a glimpse of the vision
of The Mother who not only is the torch bearer of her divine inspiration
Aurobindo but who took all the labour to fulfill the vision of her Spiritual Guru.
The Auroville is not only a place for meditation but a place of inspiration for
the world, a place which epitomizes human effort and brotherhood. It has yet to
develop the dream of The Mother of creating a Universal Village,
a long way to go but one can feel that the day is not very far. It’s just a
matter of time. Once which was a barren land is transformed to a land of
greenery and all these are the result of believing in the dream that Mother had
dreamt for the world.
There’s a lot more places for visit in and around the Ashram- the Churches, the
temples, the Botanical Garden. Jawahar Toy museum, the statue of Gandhi, the
War Memorial (WW l), the Light House, the poet’s museum, the cottage industries
of the Ashram and so on. We managed to visit some of them as we where short of
time and also most of the ashram related activities and places are closed on
Sunday. And what I regretted most was not being able to go inside the Auroville
meditation hall as there are some restrictions for first time visitors. You
have to prepare yourself for meditation and so one is allowed to visit the
place for meditation on their second visit.
This was my trip. But I still wish to visit the place once again with a little
more time in hand.
While I conclude I just would like to share a few more info that may be of
help to one planning to have a trip. We started our journey from Bangalore and luckily managed two tickets on KSRTC after
several weeks of planning due to the scarcity of direct buses from Bangalore to Pondicherry.
But for our return journey we had to come via Chennai Koyembadu bus stand.
There is frequent Express bus service from Pondicherry to Chennai. There is another
train route from Pondicherry
to Egmour at 14:40 hrs. It is a passenger train. But both the routes take
approx 4- 4.30 hrs. But if one chooses the train they have to take bus to reach
Chennai station or Bus stand. Again if the tour is managed prior it would be
easy to manage time if there is shortage in time. The Ashram with all its activity
areas is closed on Sundays. The Auto Care centre located near the police
station arranges tour in and around the Ashram in the morning at 8:i5 hrs and a
trip to Auroville at 14:00 hrs. There is another tour for sight seeing in Pondicherry .But it would
be better to finish the Ashram and the Auroville tour by Saturday and the sight
seeing spots could be kept for Sunday.
And the last thing to mention is that when you are visiting Pondicherry you must take
the experience of having your food in the Ashram and that couldn’t be availed
without staying in the Ashram. So manage to get a room in the Ashram guest
houses. Hope you too enjoy your trip.
