Tag: auroville archives
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Then/Now – Aspiration Bridge and Handmade Paper Factory
Another pakka building that came up in the Aspiration area in the early 1970s was the Handmade Paper Factory building. Here is a construction photo of the bridge over the Aspiration “canyon” (which should properly be labelled a gully) with the factory behind it from January 1972. The next photo is of the bridge as
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Photos by Indra Poddar of Pakka Aspiration Buildings
Continuing with the theme of Indra Poddar’s photos from early Auroville days, here are a few of his photos of pakka (permanent) buildings from the Aspiration area. These photos, some of buildings under construction and some of buildings just finished, were taken in the early 1970s. Aspiration was the first large community in Auroville, and
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Bharat Nivas Construction in the 1970s
A few photos by Indra Poddar of Bharat Nivas under construction from the 1970s. Some of these photos nicely capture the landscape around the campus at the time! Photos from 1972 Photos from sometime between 1972 and 1977 Photos from 1977
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The Amphitheater Remodelling in 1973
This week we’re continuing to showcase photos taken by Indra Poddar in the early years of Auroville. The Amphitheater in the Matrimandir gardens was originally designed for the inauguration ceremony of Auroville in February 1968, when earth from (almost) all the countries of the world and all the states of India was poured into the
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Photos of Matrimandir Construction from 1972
The Archives has digital copies of quite a few photos taken by Indra Poddar in the early years of Auroville. Here are a few construction photos of the Matrimandir from May 1972. These images belong to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram collection. Taken on 24th May 1972 Taken on 30th May 1972
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1931 Map of Auroville Area
The Auroville Archives recently received a large number of large drawings from the office and storage of L’avenir d’Auroville, also known as Auroville Town Development Council, which is the working group tasked with manifesting the township of Auroville. Among these drawings was a tracing of a 1931 map of the area around Pondicherry, which shows
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1977 & 1978 Auroville Birthday Bonfire Photos
Auroville’s birthday (inauguration day) just went by on February 28th, and the Archives received a query asking when the first bonfire at the Amphitheater took place. We’re still finding out the answer, but we found a photo attributed to Feb 28 1976. However the photo is really dark, so instead of showing that photo here,
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Auroville Charter
On February 28, 1968, the Auroville Charter was broadcast live at Auroville’s inauguration ceremony, read out first in French by The Mother from her room in the Ashram at Pondicherry. It was then read out in other languages by various people present at the inauguration. The Charter was prepared and written in the weeks before
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The Urn
The Urn at the Amphitheater was a central feature of Auroville’s inauguration ceremony. Into it was poured soil from most of the countries of the world, as well as each state of India. It still stands today at the center of the Amphitheater. The Urn was designed by Charles Gianferrari, a designer who collaborated often
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Delegates and Placards at the Inauguration
As we approach the anniversary of Auroville’s inauguration ceremony on February 28th, we will put up a couple more posts of photos from the ceremony. This week’s focus is on the placards that were used during the ceremony, with names of the various participating countries and Indian states on them, and the delegates holding these
Auroville Archives 