The 70-member G20 delegation, which was accompanied by District Collector E. Vallavan, was accorded a warm welcome at the Visitors’ Centre by a group of Aurovilians of different nationalities led by Jayanti Ravi, Secretary of the Auroville Foundation.
A press release from Auroville said the guests were shown a short video on Auroville and its main feature, the Matrimandir, which the Mother had dedicated as the soul of Auroville.
The delegates were then shown around the exhibition and the India Space at Bharat Nivas, the Pavilion of India in Auroville’s International Zone. At the India Space, they were welcomed by members of the Auroville Town Development Council (ATDC) and other Aurovilians who are since long involved in the development of Auroville’s Galaxy Master Plan.
Toby Neuman, ATDC member, gave an overview of Auroville’s unique shape and how it was being realised. The delegation visited the full-room 1:100 scale model of the City Area with its main features: the ‘Crown’ and the ‘Lines of Force’.
At the Matrimandir, the visitors took a tour of the ‘Park of Unity’, the central ‘Peace Area’ of Auroville, its many gardens and the three central features of Auroville — the Matrimandir with its 12 ‘petals’, the Banyan Tree and the Amphitheatre.
The visit included a concentration session in the Inner Chamber and many delegates expressed being touched by the experience. At the Savitri Bhavan, the delegation was given an introduction to Sri Aurobindo and his main epic poem, Savitri, by Hans van Baaren.
Later, Jaya Berggreen-Clause presented the background of the Unity Pavilion, which houses George Nakashima’s Peace Table for Asia in its ‘Hall of Peace’.
One of the highlights of the visit was the ‘sound-bath’ at Auroville’s Swaram unit, which produces all kinds of musical instruments.
Auroville’s Secretary also gave a presentation on Auroville, its meaning, inception, aim and the present state of affairs. A ‘Question and Answer’ session followed. The delegation was also treated to a short flute recital by Pandit Ronu Majumdar and V. Narhari.
The press release also noted that the G20 theme, ‘One Earth – One Family – One Future’, “dovetails perfectly with Auroville’s raison d’être, its meaning and its purpose of being a material and societal expression of an actual human unity”.
The Mother herself wished for Auroville to be a venue for international events, as she wanted Auroville to be a place where nations meet peacefully to find ways to collaborate and create a unified, harmonious, spiritual global society, it added.
