
Visitors Centre and Matrimandir Viewing Point are now open.
Advance Online booking at https://visit.auroville.org/ is now recommended for day visits to Auroville Visitors Centre and the Matrimandir Viewing Point from which the Matrimandir can be seen from the outside.
Kindly note that entries per hour are limited to avoid overcrowding.
All visitors are requested to follow the mandatory protocols as per government regulations, such as wearing masks, hand sanitization, social distancing, etc...
The Auroville Visitors Centre is a place where day visitors and guests can begin to discover and learn about Auroville, its ideals, history and present-day manifestation, housed in a complex of buildings that include exhibitions, information and guest reception, boutiques for Auroville products and handicrafts, a bookshop, cafes and a food court.
Facilities
Information Service
Open daily from 9 am to 5 pm
- provides first-hand, personalized information on Auroville. Reception staff are equipped to answer queries in English and other Indian and European languages.
- stocks brochures, leaflets, books and videos on Auroville in different languages.
- gives a visual tour of the different aspects of Auroville life, community and its work through its Photo Exhibition space.
- provides video shows -- regular ‘Introduction to Auroville’ and ‘Introduction to Matrimandir’ videos in English or Tamil, with the possibility of other languages in sub-titled form.
- features the original rosewood model of the Matrimandir and the Gardens, in its Matrimandir Reception and Exhibition Space.
- Issues passes to Matrimandir Viewing Point. From the VC a shaded 10-12 minutes’ walk leads to the Viewing Point in the Matrimandir area. For those who need motorised transport, shuttles are available.
Guest Accommodation Service
Open daily from 9:30am - 12:30pm and 2 - 5pm
Ph: 0413-2622704
Offers guidance and help with guest accommodation in Auroville.
https://guesthouses.auroville.org/
Please note that on arrival to stay in Auroville accommodation all guests, volunteers, and family members will be expected to follow the rules as applicable from the state government guidelines about quarantine and safety regulations.
Boutiques
Open daily from 9:30 am - 6 pm
Display and sell a wide range of Auroville handicrafts such as incense, clothing, tableware, jewellery, furnishings, aromatherapy etc. They also stock a variety of organic herbal syrups, dried fruits, and cereal products made in Auroville.
- La Boutique d'Auroville: Ph. 0413-2622150
- Mirra Boutique: Ph. 0413-2623389
- Kalki Boutique: Ph. 0413-2623450
- Right Path Café: open for food and refreshments from 8 am - 9 pm daily, On Mondays, it closes early at 5 pm. Ph: 0413-2622248
- Dreamers' Café: open for food and refreshments from 8 am - 8:30 pm every day during the high season (closes early on Mondays at 6 pm)
Ph: 0413-2623143 - Korean food served Wednesdays, Fridays, Sundays atthe Right Path Cafe from 6.00 pm to 8.30 pm. Closed Mondays.
- Dosa Corner, situated at the back of the Right Path Cafe. Serves organic dosas and parottas in an informal setting at an affordable cost.
Open daily from 6.30 pm to 8.30 pm. Closed Mondays.
Serves dosas in the evening from 6:30 - 10 pm Closed on Wednesday evenings. Ph: 0413-2623034.
New School Crafts: situated next to the Kiosk, selling small handicraft items such as incense, soap, oils, etc...Open from 9am - 5pm. Ph: 0413-2623833
Open Air Boutique: Kamalam, a retail outlet of SEDAB (Sustainable Enterprises Development in the Auroville Bioregion) promotes ethical and eco-friendly products made by rural entrepreneurs. SEDAB is part of a wider Integral Rural Development vision for the bioregion. Its goal is to provide livelihood options for women in villages in and around Auroville.
Garden Shop (Fleurs d’Auroville) situated next to the main visitors’ parking. The Auroville Botanical Gardens have been established in response to the disappearing Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest (TDEF) and to the global need for the conservation of genetic diversity in the plant kingdom in a wide range of climatic conditions. With preservation projects throughout India, a growing, diversifying nursery, and localized educational programs, the Auroville Botanical Gardens acts on several fronts in order to simultaneously save and recreate the unique forest ecosystem that stretched along the coast until one century ago.
City transport:
Pick up and Drop Shuttle Service, per passenger fares.
Daily 9:30am - 6.00pm.
Ph 0413-2622611
Special events
For entertainment evenings (theatre, music/dance performances) and other special events happening at VC, see the notice board at the Centre and at other locations around Auroville, or the weekly News & Notes.Contact Visitors Centre: 0413-2622611 or 9487650951
Open-air exhibitions
Daily walking tours starting from Visitors Center.
Guided tours are momentarily stopped. The Information Office can provide you with a self-guided map of places to visit on foot in the International Zone, on your way back from the Matrimandir Viewing Point.