Auroville

Auroville is an experimental township in Viluppuram district, Tamil Nadu, India, on the Coromandel coast north of Puducherry. It was inaugurated on 28 February 1968, when young people from 124 countries and the Indian states placed earth from their homelands in an urn beside the future Matrimandir. The project was called into being by The Mother (Mirra Alfassa) from the yoga of Sri Aurobindo. UNESCO and the Government of India have recognised it as an ongoing experiment in human unity. The galaxy plan by Roger Anger puts the Matrimandir — a place of silent concentration, not a temple of a religion — at the centre of a Peace Area. Around it sit four zones (Residential, Cultural, International, Industrial) inside a 2.5 km city diameter (about 4.9 km²). A green belt of forest, farms and sanctuaries is meant to bring the whole circle to about 5 km / 2,000 ha. The Foundation has been acquiring land toward that plan; historically on the order of 850 ha was already held. Planned population is 50,000. Official census 2026: 3,527 residents from 60 countries (2,865 adults, 662 children). Largest groups: India 1,888, France 413, Germany 233, Italy 161, USA 103, Netherlands 100. Nobody owns a house or plot privately. Land and assets sit with the Auroville Foundation (Auroville Foundation Act, 1988). Residents work in 180+ units, schools, farms and services. Joining is volunteer → Newcomer (usually about a year) → entry on the Register of Residents. There is no membership fee that buys land. Governance is split between the Foundation (appointed by the Government of India; Secretary currently Dr Jayanti Ravi) and resident bodies such as the Residents’ Assembly. Since 2021 that split has been publicly contested (Crown Road / Master Plan works, visas, maintenance). This listing follows the official site and census; read current Foundation and resident sources before moving.