Auroville was founded in 1968 by Mirra Alfassa, a yoga leader known as The Mother. She was a disciple of Sri Aurobindo, a yoga guru who believed that human evolution had not finished. The Mother believed that this experimental community would evolve humans by bringing a more advanced consciousness called the supramental. It was designed by the French architect Roger Anger and houses around 2,000 people in communes, with names like Grace, Serenity, Fertile, Certitude and Transformation. The buildings are a combination of modern western and traditional Indian elements and are set in a rural landscape of narrow lanes, deep red earth and lush greenery. The residents sustain themselves by involving themselves in agriculture, handicrafts, alternative technology, educational and development projects including Aurolec, a computer software company.
The Matrimandir is a huge spherical structure surrounded by twelve pedestals. "Inside, a spiraling wooden ramp leads upwards to a spherical, air-conditioned meditation room of polished white marble. At its centre, there is a 70cm crystal ball in a gold mount. It is fueled by solar panels and is surrounded by gardens. Radiating from this centre are four "zones" as indicated by The Mother: the "Residential Zone", "Industrial Zone", "Cultural Zone" and "International Zone". Around the city area proper a so-called "Green Belt" has formed through rigorous and steady rehabilitation of the land, which includes farms and forestries. Auroville is populated by futuristic-style buildings. Some public drinking fountains feature "dynamised" water, which has been "made healthier" by having the water listen to Bach and Mozart. School classrooms are held under the shade of a tree and attendance is not mandatory.
