Created in 2015 by Rakhal and the Auro-Image team, in cooperation with Auroville’s land fundraisers, this 8-minute film is a call for completing Auroville’s body – its land. Over shots of the barren land that once was, Landing Auroville begins by asking “Who could imagine a poorer and more desolate land to create ‘the City the Earth Needs’?” The film then traces the work of the “good-willed forerunners” who responded to The Mother’s call.
Fifty years later and the land transformed, this lush green space now hosts a growing city, the creative mix of nationalities and cultures, greater prosperity for villages, a magnetic “fresh wind of progress”, the inspiring example of new generations “determined to carry the experiment forward” – with the Matrimandir at its heart and centre.
Landing Auroville is a homage to the work, optimism, and success of Auroville so far. And it holds a warning for the future! Urban spillover, speculation, and encroachment are serious ever-present threats to the City of Dawn’s body. The film ends: “Auroville is a cradle for the future. To fulfil its role, it needs its physical body to be complete.”
To support Acres for Auroville, please visit https://land.auroville.org/campaigns/
