As a part of a school trip, I visited the Auroville, a township 4km away from the Union Territory of Pondicherry in India. Based on the ideology of the spiritual guru Sri Aurobindo, this township was developed by Mira Alfasa, known as the spiritual collaboration of Sri Aurobindo, with the help of architect Roger Anger. Auroville is meant to be a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony, above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities. The purpose of Auroville is to realize human unity and help people achieve a higher level of mental consciousness through evolution.

Auroville, also known as the City Of Dawn, is famous in India for being known as the most environment friendly and pollution free city of India. In the early 1960s and 70s, a small group of pioneering residents took up extensive tree planting to rejuvenate the barren land and harvest rainwater. Since then, Aurovilians (residents of Auroville) have been constantly experimenting with new ideas and solutions in areas of forestation, organic farming, renewable energy, water management, waste treatment, building technologies and environmental awareness programs among others.

With the vision of achieving self sufficiency in food production, Auroville has been a pioneer in modern techniques of organic farming aimed at producing the best high quality healthy food substances for its residents and visitors. With places like Sadhana forest and Naidu farms constantly spreading awareness about the need for organic farming, farmers of Auroville have given up the use of pesticides and fertilizers completely.

Today Matri-Mandir in Auroville hosts the largest solar panel installation in India, and solar kitchen equipped to cook for over 1000 people everyday primarily uses the energy generated from the largest solar collector in Asia developed and build indigenously at Auroville. Windmills, mainly used to pump water, are a common sight in Auroville along with many solar power panels that provide energy to almost everything in Auroville, ranging from the street lights to the big town hall. Today Matri-Mandir in Auroville hosts the largest solar PV installation in India, and solar kitchen equipped to cook for >1000 people everyday primarily uses the energy generated from the largest solar collector in Asia developed and build indigenously at Auroville.

Auroville's EcoService collects waste from 2/3rd's of the Aurovilians while the remaining 1/3rd prefer to dispose waste in their own way. 60% of the waste collected is recycled while the rest 40% is land filled. Auroville is working towards a zero waste policy.  Afforestation campaigns started in the 1970s have been successful in turning the barren land of Auroville into a living forest with over two million trees and some of them being exotic species too. As the trees grew, and micro-climates formed, many species of bird-life and animals returned, further accelerating the dissemination of seeds and enriching the environment.

All in all, Auroville is a city that every person enthusiastic about environment and spirituality should visit. Not only does Auroville teach us about eco friendly practices, it also educates us about the need to live in harmony with one another and how we all can grow together as a community that loves what nature has to offer.