Written by : trablogger

Travel Diary | Day 2 : Day of the Couch Surfers (Contd)

Published on : November 9, 2014
Last Updated on July 26, 2018 by trablogger
Reading Time: 4 minutes

Part 1 : Travel Diary | Day 2 : Day of the Couch Surfers

Part 2 :

I started walking towards Auroville carrying my camera with me. She has given me the directions. The possibility of losing my way is so less, I just have to follow the main road till I reach my destination.

The Auroville Main road

The Auroville Main road

There were no bus service in that road. But plenty of bikes go in that route all the time. She advised me to get a bike lift.  I walked around 1 km roughly.  I didn’t start asking for a lift. Then suddenly one guy stopped and asked me if I need a lift. That was a pleasant surprise. I said thank you and accepted the offer.  I came to know that his name is Nithin,  he is also from Kerala and he has been in that place, working there for more than 8 years. He has already started  talking  a Malayalam with Tamil accent.  He gave me his number and asked me to call if I needed any help during my stay in that place. I thanked him again and started walking when he had to take a different diversion  away from my destination.

After walking for some more time I realise that Auroville was around 6 km away.  So I decided to hitch hike. From my experience, I can tell you that, Auroville is one of the best places in India to hitch hike! Even before I knew, I was sitting at the back seat of some bike.  Thus I have reached the unpaved roads of Auroville. I have decided to explore the area on foot.  At that time I have no idea how big the entire area really is. Anyway things happen for a reason.

Follow us, we will show you the way

Follow us, we will show you the way

I followed the main road. In between I could see some sign boards with some really interesting names. The first sign board that got my attention was ‘Certitude’. Later in the day and during my stay in that place, I have seen so many other interesting names.  Certitude was just an intro!

As I was walking these dirt road with my camera, I heard a Royal Enfield- Bullet slowing down behind me with its thud thud noise. When I turned around this guy asked me if I needed a lift! The surprising thing wasn’t his kindness. But I knew this guy. His face was so familiar to me. I tried to remember and DANG! Gaurav!  Its one of the guys whom I have sent couch request! He was also surprised when some random stranger knew him by his name. After breaking the ice he offered me a lift till the entrance of Matri Mandir. He suggested some places to visit and explained the procedure to visit inside of Matri Mandir.  We exchanged our phone numbers. He also invited me for the next day’s breakfast. We parted our ways with the promise of meeting the next day. My stay at Auroville would have been another story if I hadn’t met this guy! So everything happens for a reason.

I was excited to see the architectural marvel offered by the Matri mandir. I had read about it in many travel blogs and over the internet. It was my turn to witness it, in front of my eyes.  Before I could witness the man-made wonder, I witnessed a natural wonder. A banyan tree, a big one, and its roots have come down and grew like a tree.

Banyan trees of Auroville

Banyan trees of Auroville

Banyan trees of Auroville

Banyan trees of Auroville

After a few more steps I could see the first glimpse of the Architectural marvel. There is a view-point where you can take the pictures of Matri mandir, have a guide to explain you things about matri mandir and read the history and philosophy behind its construction and other things.

The Matri Mandir, Auroville

The Matri Mandir, Auroville

Inside this Golden globe, there is a place to meditate with a big crystal ball at the centre. The sun light falls on this crystal ball and lights up the entire place. This place is synonym to tranquillity. If you want to go inside and experience the tranquillity, you need to get a pass in advance. It means you need to wait a day or two before going inside the Matri mandir.

If you are visiting Matri mandir for the first time, you need to go to the Visitor’s centre and get yourself registered. Carry an Id card for this purpose. After registering, depending on the availability, you will be assigned a time slot and a pass will be given. On the assigned day, you need to show up at the exact time at the visitor’s centre. After a movie screening, all the people assigned on that day will be taken to Matri mandir on a bus. You will be given a guided tour in and around of Matri mandir. You can also do half an hour meditation inside Matri mandir.

I rushes towards visitor centre to get an appointment because the registration opens till 3 o clock. (From 10 to 11pm & 2 to 3pm ).

The vistor's centre layout

The visitor’s centre layout

I reached visitor’s place in time and found out the registration desk. Got registered and I was allotted a time schedule after 2 days. ie on 10th Friday. I was planning to leave Auroville on Thursday. So I decided to extend my stay in Auroville till Friday.

So my main job was done. Now back to exploration. There are a lot of information on Auroville, provided in the visitor’s centre itself.

Information on various Pavilions in Auroville

Information on various Pavilions in Auroville

I was not very patient to read all those things. So I started to walk again. Most of the names got my attention. First one I went to check out was “Solitude”

To Solitude

To Solitude

Canadian Pavilion coming soon

Canadian Pavilion coming soon

Some more signs

Some more signs

surrender

surrender

Grace

Grace

Sri Aurubindo

Sri Aurubindo

Smile now

Smile now

With a smile I walked back to my tonight’s home. Probably I would have walked around 10 km this day. I walked all the way back to my host place enjoying the evening breeze.

Back in my host’s place, we  spent the evening with interesting conversations and watching movies. My entire movie collection was copied that night. After the dinner I had a good sleep that compensated the sleepless train journey.

Day 2 was really a memorable day so far.

Written by : trablogger
Trablogger aka Jithin is an Indian travel blogger who is obsessed with leading a travel life. When he is not traveling, photographing, writing or blogging, you can see him thinking about sustaining this travel life or helping someone to travel more.
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A travel blog from India focussing on sustaining the Travel life, how to travel more for less, how to travel wide and far and gain life altering experiences from it. The main aim of Trablogger is to inspire and help others to travel more .
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