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The Inauguration of Auroville

Auroville was inaugurated at 10 a.m. February 28th, 1968, with a ceremony at the centre of the future town attended by more than 5,000 persons. The ceremony started with Mother reading in French a welcoming message and then the Charter of Auroville. She was in her room in Pondicherry and the Message and the Charter were rebroadcast directly to Auroville by the Indian radio.

Thereafter the Charter was read in 16 languages. During this reading the soil from 124 countries and 23 Indian states was placed in a raised marble urn.

Contents

•    Beginning of the Inauguration

•    Reading the Charter of Auroville

•    Placed the soil in a raised marble urn

•    Additional photos

 

Beginning of the Inauguration


The ceremony started with Mother reading this welcoming message

“Greetings from Auroville to all men of goodwill. Are invited to Auroville all those who thirst for progress and aspire to a higher and truer life.”

Reading the Charter of Auroville


The Mother read the Charter in French

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Reading the Charter and batches of representatives

 
 


1. in Tamil — Amrita

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Representatives of Andaman & Nicobar, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Chandigarh, Delhi, Goa

 

2. in Sanskrit — Madhav P. Pandit

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Representatives of Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Laccadives, Madhya Pradesh, Madras.

 

 

3. in English — Norman Dowset

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Representatives of Maharashtra, Manipur, Mysore, Orissa, Pondicherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh

 


4. in Arabic — Shri V. Ramachendra

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Representatives of Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bhutan, Bolivia

 

 

5. in Chinese — Dr. Hsu Hu

Representatives of Brazil, Bulgaria, Burma, Burundi, China, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Rep.

 

6. in Dutch — Ms. Wil van Liet

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Representatives of Ceylon, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Congo, Congo (Kinshasa), Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus

 

7. in German — Mrs. Theodora Karnash

Representatives of Czechoslovakia, Dahomey (Now Benin), Denmark, Dominican Rep., Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland

 

8. in Greek — Mr. Richard Rigos

Representatives of France, Gabon, Germany (West), Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Honduras

 

9. in Hebrew — Dr. Max Stryer

Representatives of Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast

 

10. in Italian — Mr. Alberto Grassi (Nata)

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Representatives of Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, South Korea, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia

 


11. in Japanese — Mr. Omkardas (Kobayashi)

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Representatives of Libya, Luxembourg, Malagasy (now Madagascar), Malta, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mali, Morocco, Mauritania

 

12 in Norwegian — Ms. Else Heen

Representatives of Mexico, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Rep. of Niger, Feder. of Nigeria

 

13. in Russian— Mrs. Svetlana Pitoeff Alward

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Representatives of Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar

 

14. in Spanish — Ms. Maggy Lidchi

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Representatives of Rhodesia (Now Zimbabwe), Rumania, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sikkim, Singapore, Somalia, South Africa, South Yemen, Spain, Sudan

 


15. in Swedish — Mrs. Charlotte Neogy (Shyama)

Representatives of Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Tibet (in China), Uganda

 

16. in Tibetan — Mr. Katak Tulku L.T.N.

Representatives of Canada (Quebec), USSR, United Arab Republic (now Egypt), United Kindom, USA, Upper Volta (Now Burkina Faso), Uruguay, Venezuela, Viet Nam (South), Yugoslavia, Zambia

Placed the soil in a raised marble urn

24 States or Union Territories of India

1. Andaman & Nicobar
Niladri Banerjee + Kusum Barai
2. Andhra Pradesh
M. Sesha Sai + Harini Gopal
3. Assam
Dilip Agarwal °+ Karuna Mukherj
4. West Bengal
Somen Biswas + Bandana Maitra
5. Bihar
Hemant Dayal + Pushpa Sinha
6. Chandigarh
Rajender Mohan Singh + Pimmy Ahluwalia
7. Delhi
C.S. Suryanarayanan + Avaninder Grewal
8. Goa
Rajendra Tamba + Judith de Souza
9. Gujarat
Makwana Valjibhai Bhikabhai + Parajia Khajendrika Shantilal
10. Haryana
Upendra Ratra + Rita Sardana
11. Himachal Pradesh
Vijay Sharma + Maria Jain°
12. Jammu & Kashmir
Rafiq Ahmed Bazaz + Anita Samyal
13. Kerala
Vinod Das + Shabha Das
14. Laccadives
K.M. Kunhiseedikoya (M 15) + K.K. Hajrommabi F 14 + K.M. Manu (escort)
15. Madhya Pradesh
Pratap Reddy + Kiran Mehta
16. Madras
R. Kuppuswamy + R. Chitralekha
17. Maharashtra
Maraban Patrawala + Nakadi
18. Manipur
Pratik Ghose° + Tripti Das
19. Mysore
I. Sreekant + Uma Ratna
20. Orissa
Subhranshu Mishra + Meera Singh
21. Pondicherry
R. Selvaraj + Nirmala N.
22. Punjab
Anand Arya + Gulshan Sippy
23. Rajasthan
Navin Poddar + Manju Jhunjhunwala
24. Uttar Pradesh
Diwakar Kamboj

124 States


1. Afghanistan
Moh. Tarik Abawi (M 21)
Pemma Chodan*
2. Albania
Debrata Haldar*
Chhanda Mukkerjee*
3. Algeria
Abijit Gupta*
Gauri Gupta*
4. Argentina
Cristobal M. Kirton (M 22)
Sunita Mahatta*
5. Australia
Ross Conabere (M 23)
Niranjana Arya*

6. Austria
Joseph Szarkar*
Suzanne Steiger*

7. Belgium
Kiran Kakkad*°
Asha Kothari*

8. Bhutan
Bishma Kandoi*
Sumitra Dhandania*
9. Bolivia
Vivek Rane*
Vinay Sharan*
10. Brazil
Laxman Mahtani*
Maria Lucia Carrera (F 19)
11. Bulgaria
Mihail Dimitrov (M 20)
Sangeeta Chowdhury*

12. Burma
Maung-Tin-Nyunt (M 27)
Debjani Haldar*
13. Burundi
Debdas Chatterjee*
Smita Mehta*

14. China (nationalist)
Kanu Dey*
Vimala Mouttaya*

15. China (communist)
Bokul Chakravarty*
Hema Singh*

16. Cambodia
C. Konthal (M 12)
Kalyani Bhattacharya*

17. Cameroon
John Ndeh (M 21)
Gargi Bajpei*

18. Canada
Stephen Inglis (M 18)
Terry Delanny
19. Central African Rep.
Purushottam*
Dipali Chakravarty*

20. Ceylon
Bandu Senaratna
Patsy Kreltszheim (F 19)
21. Chad
Nityaprakash Khare*
Lavanya Reddy*
22. Chile
Ratan Ghose*
Indu Rai*

23. Colombia
Fernando Iragorri (M 21)
Shashikala Patel*

24. Congo
Shobhan Roy Chowdhurry*
Pinakini Patel*

25. Congo (Kinshasa)
Nalin Patel*
Aruna Barai*

26. Costa Rica
Jitendra Shah*
Antika Ghose*

27. Cuba Ravi S.*
Villas Patel*°

28. Cyprus
Arvind Mistry*
Chandrima Sengupta*

29 Czechoslovakia (now split in two countries)
Jiri Strasiripka (M 20)
Ales Wotruba (M 18)

30 Dahomey (Now Benin)
Basabjit Deshmukh*
Meera Roy*

31 Denmark
Swen Pedersen (M 23)
Lison Ratra*

32 Dominican Rep.
Ashwin Kakkad*
Charubala Patel*

33 Ecuador
Ajay Sharma*
Jyoti Reddy*

34 El Salvador
Kabul P. Mitra*
Sutapa Kanungo*

35 Ethiopia
Swapan Basu*
Deepa Didwania*

36 Fiji
Sashi Kant (M 21)
Jyoti Patel*

37 Finland
Siddharta Bhabcock*
Archana Maheswari*

38 France
Pierre Gros (M 20)
Dominique Marty (F 20)

39 Gabon
Rajanikant Naik*
Nishta Mukkerjee*

40 Germany (West) (now re-united)
Reinhold Pingel (M 25)
Petra Erdmann (F 26)

41 Ghana
Milan Ghose*
Indra Tendon*

42 Greece
Pritwiraj Narasimham*
Denise Sioris (F 17)

43 Guatemala
Ranajit Roy*
Tossi Bose*

44 Guinea
Rajesh Saha*
Rita Bhattacharjee*

45 Haiti
Aveni Shah*
Nanda Reddy*

46 Honduras
Vinay Anuru*
Charulata Patel*

47 Hungary
Audrey (F)
Elizabeth Andai (F)

47 Hungary
Audrey (F)
Elizabeth Andai (F)

48 Iceland
Maurice Shukla*
Vishakha Patel*

49 Indonesia
Mohamad Kartono (M 17)
Minoti Mohanti*

50 Iran
Siavash Hatami (M 20)
Shahla Danesh (F 21)

51 Iraq
Walid Khalid Al Wadi (M 23)
M. Kadhum Latif (M 21)

Ireland

Garvano Gallagher (M 17)
Seraphine Martin

53 Israel
Sharad Parekh*
Suman Mehra*

54 Italy
Bruno Petris
Elena Bellotti

55 Ivory Coast
Rashesh Jivarajani*
Minakshi Patel*

56 Jamaica
Kamalesh Patel*
Veronica Braham*

57 Japan
Ashwin Barai*
Wakako

58 Jordan
Usama Sulaiman Abughosh (15)
Savitri Umachigi*

59 Kenya
Paul Kingola Maundu (M 18)
Alex Mboha (M 28)

60 South Korea
Paljore Thondup*
Rachita Nayak*
61 Kuwait
Bader Abughosh (M 16)
Basil Abughosh (M 17)

62 Laos
Boun Hom Prakhin (M 13)
Boum Sou Prakhin (F 14)

63 Lebanon
Nabil Mniemne1 (M 25) or Nirmal Jhunjhunwala*
Shernaz Daruwala*

64 Liberia
Anand Reddy*
Ruby Roy*

65 Libya
Amitangshu Chakravarty*
Gita Patel*

66 Luxembourg
Rajeev Reddy*
Mounou Shamsukha*

67 Malagasy
(now Madagascar)
Abhijit Mitra*
Swapna Artaud*

68 Malta
Mahesh Patel*
Rina Chakravarty*

69 Malaysia
Eusebeus Gunter (M 13)
Kau-Soo-Keong (M 15)

70 Mauritius
Bhardwaj Modi (M 21)
Veena Poddar*

71 Mali
Ranajit Gupta*
Bhuma Bajpei*

72 Morocco
Surendra Dingh Chouhan*
Sanjukta Lall*

73 Mauritania
Shreyas Gandhi*
Moon Patel*

74 Mexico
Jaganath Panda*
Mukti Das*

75 Mongolia
Thok Thok Bazar (M 14)
Chetana Kothari*

76 Mozambique
Mukund Patel*
Savita K.*

77 Nepal
Vishnulalit*
Anita Kumari Garg (F 18)

78 Netherlands
Hubert van Rijckevorsel (M 16)
Carian Witte (F 18)

79 New Zealand
Anthony Brian Lendrum (M 20)
Lotus Patel*

80 Nicaragua
Chandravadan Arya*
Jacques Dhandania*

81 Rep. of Niger
Prakash Budihal*
Bharati Shah*

82 Feder. of Nigeria
Amakpoho Rufus Iwatt (M 23), Sudha Srivastava*
G.K.Y. Jacks (M 36)

83 Norway
Henning Christensen
Kristin Gylseth (F 19)

84 Pakistan
Bhagawat Dolia*
Subhra Banerjee*

85 Panama
Animesh Samanthray*
Chetana Bhatt*

86 Paraguay
Subbas Thakkar*
Renu Gupta*

87 Peru
Eduardo Sarmiento (M 22)
Bharati D. Patel*

88 Philippines
Walfrido Adan (M 18)
Chandralekha Patel*

89 Poland
Agami Reddy*
Prema Singh*

90 Portugal
Kanhaiya Dalmia*
Evelyne Janssens*

91 Qatar
Rajan Sankpal*
Savita Srivasthava*

92 Rhodesia (Now Zimbabwe)
S.K. Hwindingwi (M 25)
Gita C. Patel*

93 Rumania
Touyamani Bala*
Bala Kottamasu*

94 Rwanda
Tejendra Parmar*
Vikhram Dolia*

95 Saudi Arabia
Michael Barretto (M 15)
Vasundhara Bhatt*

96 Senegal
Mahesh B. Patel*
Bharati B. Patel*

97 Sikkim
Prem Bahadur Subba (M 17)
Om Kumari Pradhan (F 18)
Chumsang Bhutia (F 18)

98 Singapore
Indra Arya*
Gracey John (F 18)

99 Somalia
Bashir Gardaad (M 25)
Bulbul Dhir*

100 South Africa
Mukesh Gupta*
Datta Mukherjee*

101 South Yemen
(now re-united)

Mohsen Hamdani (M 24)
Cheta Poddar*

102 Spain
Lopez Nadal Gonzalo (M 15)
Gita Dolia*

103 Sudan
Henry Khamis Wani (M 24)
Pragna Karuna*

104 Sweden
Lars Freden (M 16)
Kankana Mukherjee*

105 Switzerland
Oscar Loser°
Sahadja Christiane Roll

106 Syria
Tarun K. Banerjee*
Tapas Bhatt*°

107 Tanzania
Meelit Shah (M 12)
Mamta Shah (F 14)

108 Thailand
Arup Mitra*
Aruna Nandi*

109 Togo
Jay Sharma*
Autoshi Bose*

110 Tunisia
Benimadhav Mohanti*
Uma Dhandania*

111 Turkey
Mr.
Mrs. Akay

112 Tibet (already in China)
Galek Namgyal*
Dikki Dolker*

113 Uganda
J.M. Ssentongo (M 22)
Kamala Atrey*

114 Canada (Quebec)
Jean Pierre Bunel
Madeleine Gosselin (F)

115 Union of the Socialist Sovietic Republics
Sergey Mirakyan (M 10)
Alla Didenka (F 10)

115 Union of the Socialist Sovietic Republics
Sergey Mirakyan (M 10)
Alla Didenka (F 10)

116 United Arab Republic (now Egypt)
M. Sharweed (M 33)
M. Fawzy Abdalla (M 29)

117 United Kindom
Julian Earle (M 19)
Joanna Lancashire (F 18)

18 United States of America
John A. Ware (M 19)
Jeannie Ernst (F 19)
Louise Owens (F 23)

119 Upper Volta (Now Burkina Faso)
Gurudas Banerjee*
Ila Patel*

120 Uruguay
Bipin Bihari Prasad*
Amala Mouttaya*

121 Venezuela
Vijay Anuru*
Gita Lall*

122 Viet Nam (South)
Jack Duong Son Thong (M 18)
Anne-Marie Duong Ngoc Thu (F 17)

123 Yugoslavia
Danor Bonacic
Katarina Treppo
Maro Bonacic

124 Zambia
Inyambo Nyumbu (M 19)
Christine Chilangwa (F 21)
Arnon Dixi Zulu (M 21)

Other photos


Plan for inauguration

Sketch by the Mother of the Urn

The Urn with soil from 124 countries and 24 Indian states

 


The Charter of Auroville written by the Mother and the soil of the Samadhi being taken to the Urn by Kiran and Vijay Poddar 

Udar Pinto and Roger Anger preparing for the inauguration

Fabienne and Kalya (the Mother’s great-grandchildren) placing the soil of Auroville in the Urn 

security volunteers

 

 

Udar Pinto with the General Secretary of UNESCO

India’s Prime Minister, Smt. Indira Gandhi receives in Delhi some of the delegates to the Inauguration Ceremony.

 Nolini Kanta Gupta and his eldest son Samir Kanta Gupta sealing the Urn

SAICE students marked by *

Ashramites marked by °