Last week I had the opportunity to visit Auroville (Tamil Nadu, India)
My husband, Nithya Shanti along with Nandini and Dr. Nandita Shaw were hosting a retreat, called nourish. It was a beautiful combination of teachings about the wellbeing of the body, mind and heart and how to form the connection between them.
One of the days we had the opportunity to visit Sadhana forest and Solitude farm. Before I start talking too much about these visits, I just want to give a little insight about Auroville, as it is an intentional international community and I find it a very holistic and alternative kind of place.
Auroville was founded by the mother who was inspired by Sri Aurobindo. The mother was inspired to create a space for humanity that was open to all nations of the world. Where people could come together in creating a space based on love and compassion, creating a new kind of living, one based on passion and service to others. The town itself was randomly selected on a map of India, and from there the work began. The mother visited the site along with others who were interested in creating this kind of a place. In the beginning the site was absolutely barren. Miles and miles of red desert with no site of life at all, except for some village homes in the distance.
Since that day, millions of trees have been planted and beautiful buildings have been created. It is now home to some 2,000 people with the capacity to grow to 50,000. There are about 5,000 workers in Auroville and about 1,000 visitors to Auroville on any given day. The roads are clear and clean, pleasant to bicycle or walk on. Enjoyable actually! Some of the roads are a little bumpy but, all the more fun.
There are many activities in Auroville, some of which caught my eye were: surfing lessons, hula hooping, yoga, healthy cooking, dance therapy, permaculture, natural building etc. It's easy to find organic, vegan and even raw food options many places you go within Auroville. As well as products made with high integrity. The clothes, soaps and other items you can buy are typically hand made, natural ingredients and in some way or another serving a bigger cause, whether it be supporting indigenous creativity and skill sets or using conscious packaging- recycled or compostable material.
SOLITUDE FARM:
We had lunch at solitude farm one of the days. It was beautiful, and amazing food, fresh from the garden. Krishna, in charge of running the farm, had been deeply inspired by Masanobu Fukuoka. He proudly announced that the rice we were eating was from a no till field! At the end of lunch I asked if I could see his field. He told me that it was the end of the season, so there wasn't much to see, but he would take me there anyway.
Looking out at the field their were long rows of mounded earth and dried plant material. I could see that that was where the rice had been growing. What they had done, was fold the plants over and had covered them with other dry plant material. He said they would cut green manure plants growing on the side of their field along with collecting leaves from surrounding trees and pile it on the soil. This is a way of conserving moisture and life within the soil. Tilling dries out the soil as well as disrupts vital mycelium growth and other organisms that aerate the soil and bring vital nutrients into it as well. I was very impressed that he was able to a no till system on a large scale. He mentioned that when they plant the rice, they sprinkle it overtop the mounds without disturbing the soil, which is great!
His other crops were planted in polycultural systems. He would have banana trees along pumpkin patches and beans along with many other varieties of plants! They all looked like very healthy and happy plants. Hopefully I will be able to visit the farm soon again :)
Sadhana Forest
We got to Sadhana Forest on a Friday. They give tours, dinner and a movie every friday to any visitor who comes, free of cost! I am amazed that they are able to provide this free. But when I saw the donation box, I did end up emptying out my pockets to contribute to them, because they are doing absolutely amazing work. Jamie, our tourguide (Who has been at living in Sadhana for a number of years) gave us a brief on this beautiful forest we had arrived to. It had started with a small family (a mother, father and a baby) landing on this piece of property (which had also started out as complete desert), and wanting to create something out of it. Wanting to restore it back to its pristine natural self. Within the first week they were there, someone landed up, someone who was willing to dedicate their time to this place. From there, things took off and today they have some 1,000 volunteers coming through annually, helping them restore the forest back to its tropical dry evergreen forest nature. This type of forest is actually on the brink of extinction with some .01% left in the world today.
All of the buildings made on site are made from natural material, they are very open and spacious allowing much air circulation inside. They use rocket stoves - highly efficient stoves, 70% efficient compared to the average 40% efficiency. They use handpumps in the forest, to remind everyone how precious water is as a resource. So they fill a bucket and carry it to whatever they will need it for on a daily basis! They have solar power onsite, they are able to manage their needs during the day with the panels, and at night they have a batter charged from solar, so the office and other important buildings can be lit after hours. They wash their dishes with ash, water and vinegar.
The cyclone which hit last year, did effect them. 14 of their buildings came down. However on a better note, because these were built of natural material, they all served as mulch for the soil! Nothing wasted!! They had 2 days without power or water, however the surrounding villages went 2 months without these things! So in all, they did pretty well for themselves. They use compost toilets, so nothing is wasted.
Today they have planted 25,000 trees. Some locations of Sadhana forest were difficult places to keep the trees alive, and they would have a 40% success rate in the survival of the trees, but today they enjoy a 90% success rate in their tree planting efforts.
They are also a vegan community. Their main purpose in life is reforestation so they want to make sure all of their actions are congruent. Consumption of meat and animal byproducts contribute more to global warming than any other action humans do on earth! It is the number one reason why are oceans are dying, why the life in our rivers are becoming too polluted for fish and main reason for destruction and deforestation of the amazon and of course other precious forests and natural ecosystems in our world. If you wish to learn more, visit united nations report on consumption of beef, etc. There is a lot to learn from the internet.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/02/un-report-meat-free-diet
I also wanted to mention that they are very involved with villages nearby as well as children programs. They also have a Sadhana forest Haiti, and are working towards one in Kenya!! To promote long term stays at the forest, they have developed a 3 year certification program in environmental leadership The place seems awesome and someday, I'd love to go back and spend some more time. More Pictures of Sadhana forest to come!
My husband, Nithya Shanti along with Nandini and Dr. Nandita Shaw were hosting a retreat, called nourish. It was a beautiful combination of teachings about the wellbeing of the body, mind and heart and how to form the connection between them.
One of the days we had the opportunity to visit Sadhana forest and Solitude farm. Before I start talking too much about these visits, I just want to give a little insight about Auroville, as it is an intentional international community and I find it a very holistic and alternative kind of place.
Auroville was founded by the mother who was inspired by Sri Aurobindo. The mother was inspired to create a space for humanity that was open to all nations of the world. Where people could come together in creating a space based on love and compassion, creating a new kind of living, one based on passion and service to others. The town itself was randomly selected on a map of India, and from there the work began. The mother visited the site along with others who were interested in creating this kind of a place. In the beginning the site was absolutely barren. Miles and miles of red desert with no site of life at all, except for some village homes in the distance.
Since that day, millions of trees have been planted and beautiful buildings have been created. It is now home to some 2,000 people with the capacity to grow to 50,000. There are about 5,000 workers in Auroville and about 1,000 visitors to Auroville on any given day. The roads are clear and clean, pleasant to bicycle or walk on. Enjoyable actually! Some of the roads are a little bumpy but, all the more fun.
There are many activities in Auroville, some of which caught my eye were: surfing lessons, hula hooping, yoga, healthy cooking, dance therapy, permaculture, natural building etc. It's easy to find organic, vegan and even raw food options many places you go within Auroville. As well as products made with high integrity. The clothes, soaps and other items you can buy are typically hand made, natural ingredients and in some way or another serving a bigger cause, whether it be supporting indigenous creativity and skill sets or using conscious packaging- recycled or compostable material.
SOLITUDE FARM:
We had lunch at solitude farm one of the days. It was beautiful, and amazing food, fresh from the garden. Krishna, in charge of running the farm, had been deeply inspired by Masanobu Fukuoka. He proudly announced that the rice we were eating was from a no till field! At the end of lunch I asked if I could see his field. He told me that it was the end of the season, so there wasn't much to see, but he would take me there anyway.
Looking out at the field their were long rows of mounded earth and dried plant material. I could see that that was where the rice had been growing. What they had done, was fold the plants over and had covered them with other dry plant material. He said they would cut green manure plants growing on the side of their field along with collecting leaves from surrounding trees and pile it on the soil. This is a way of conserving moisture and life within the soil. Tilling dries out the soil as well as disrupts vital mycelium growth and other organisms that aerate the soil and bring vital nutrients into it as well. I was very impressed that he was able to a no till system on a large scale. He mentioned that when they plant the rice, they sprinkle it overtop the mounds without disturbing the soil, which is great!
His other crops were planted in polycultural systems. He would have banana trees along pumpkin patches and beans along with many other varieties of plants! They all looked like very healthy and happy plants. Hopefully I will be able to visit the farm soon again :)
Sadhana Forest
We got to Sadhana Forest on a Friday. They give tours, dinner and a movie every friday to any visitor who comes, free of cost! I am amazed that they are able to provide this free. But when I saw the donation box, I did end up emptying out my pockets to contribute to them, because they are doing absolutely amazing work. Jamie, our tourguide (Who has been at living in Sadhana for a number of years) gave us a brief on this beautiful forest we had arrived to. It had started with a small family (a mother, father and a baby) landing on this piece of property (which had also started out as complete desert), and wanting to create something out of it. Wanting to restore it back to its pristine natural self. Within the first week they were there, someone landed up, someone who was willing to dedicate their time to this place. From there, things took off and today they have some 1,000 volunteers coming through annually, helping them restore the forest back to its tropical dry evergreen forest nature. This type of forest is actually on the brink of extinction with some .01% left in the world today.
All of the buildings made on site are made from natural material, they are very open and spacious allowing much air circulation inside. They use rocket stoves - highly efficient stoves, 70% efficient compared to the average 40% efficiency. They use handpumps in the forest, to remind everyone how precious water is as a resource. So they fill a bucket and carry it to whatever they will need it for on a daily basis! They have solar power onsite, they are able to manage their needs during the day with the panels, and at night they have a batter charged from solar, so the office and other important buildings can be lit after hours. They wash their dishes with ash, water and vinegar.
The cyclone which hit last year, did effect them. 14 of their buildings came down. However on a better note, because these were built of natural material, they all served as mulch for the soil! Nothing wasted!! They had 2 days without power or water, however the surrounding villages went 2 months without these things! So in all, they did pretty well for themselves. They use compost toilets, so nothing is wasted.
Today they have planted 25,000 trees. Some locations of Sadhana forest were difficult places to keep the trees alive, and they would have a 40% success rate in the survival of the trees, but today they enjoy a 90% success rate in their tree planting efforts.
They are also a vegan community. Their main purpose in life is reforestation so they want to make sure all of their actions are congruent. Consumption of meat and animal byproducts contribute more to global warming than any other action humans do on earth! It is the number one reason why are oceans are dying, why the life in our rivers are becoming too polluted for fish and main reason for destruction and deforestation of the amazon and of course other precious forests and natural ecosystems in our world. If you wish to learn more, visit united nations report on consumption of beef, etc. There is a lot to learn from the internet.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/02/un-report-meat-free-diet
I also wanted to mention that they are very involved with villages nearby as well as children programs. They also have a Sadhana forest Haiti, and are working towards one in Kenya!! To promote long term stays at the forest, they have developed a 3 year certification program in environmental leadership The place seems awesome and someday, I'd love to go back and spend some more time. More Pictures of Sadhana forest to come!
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