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Auroville.
Nationals of more than 30 countries have been volunteering since 1968 to regenerate what was a barren plateau overlooking the Bay of Bengal on the Coromandel Coast of India. Their continued involvement with the land and the people has forged a unique pattern of development in the region.

The Social Research Centre of the International Township of Auroville is offering STUDY TOURS to explore and understand the unique character of the emerging township, an international community devoted to experiment in human unity and sustainable living. In this way, it intimately participates in the social, cultural and environmental dynamics of the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

Auroville's principal contributions to date have been environmental in nature, in particular, water conservation and reforestation. The greening of a barren countryside is a story in its own right that is unlike any other in the subcontinent. The subtle but rewarding exchange between Western technological vision and the depth of local knowledge has formed a socio-economic matrix that is unique and worthy of study.
You will commence your introduction to Tamil culture at Mahabalipuram, site of the world famous Shore temple of the Pallava era. Two nights will be spent at the beautiful Ideal Beach Resort before travelling the East Coast Road 90 kilometres south to the International Township of Auroville. Six days will be spent in Auroville studying its bio-region and the transformation wrought through the presence and involvement of the emerging township over the last three decades.
Through a series of fields trips and presentations our clients learn from the professionals who work in the fields of Auroville ecology, water conservation, applications of alternative technology, rural development strategies and reforestation. During the ample recreation time we will facilitate our clients to explore their individual interests in these and other major areas of development in Auroville, such as education, artistic expression and alternative health techniques.
A five-hour road trip will then bring you into the rice bowl of Tamil Nadu, the Cauvery Delta, to spend four days at the exotic Ideal River View Resort situated on the banks of the Vennar River. During your stay there you will make visits which will include the bronze industry of this region, still active and renowned since ancient times, and the impressive Brihadeswara Temple. This monumental legacy of the Chola dynasty was built in the 11th century A.D.

The closing sessions of the study tour, which will be held in this serene setting, will be an occasion for recapitulation, reflection and relaxation before returning to Mahabalipuram and then home.

Upstairs... Write: oko@eco-rus.com