Udar was very closely connected with Auroville in the beginning. On the inauguration day he was the "Master of Ceremonies". There was no one in the Ashram who could translate the 'Charter of Auroville' into the Russian language so Mother sent him to Madras to the Russian Embassy to get this done. Mother had also put him on the committee for Industries at Auroville. - Lilou - The Urn with soil from 124 countries and Indian states

Auroville Charter 28 February 1968 1) Auroville belongs to nobody in particular. Auroville belongs to humanity as a whole., But to live in Auroville one must be the willing servitor of the Divine Consciousness. 2) Auroville will be the place' of an unending education, of constant progress, and a youth that never ages. 3) Auroville wants to be the bridge between the past and the future. Taking advantage of all discoveries from without and from within, Auroville will boldly spring towards future realizations. 4) Auroville will be a site of material and spiritual researches for a living embodiment of an actual human unity. The Mother's sign

Auroville Charter

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Mother asked me to be the Master of Ceremonies for the Inauguration because She wanted somebody there through whom Her Force could act. One day, prior to this, She called me. She wanted every country to accept the Charter of Auroville and to send a representative to the Inauguration ceremony. But all the communist countries, led by Russia, refused to participate, because they could not accept the line in the Charter about "willing servitors of the Divine Consciousness." She told me, "I want you to go to the Consul-General of Russia and speak to him about this." "What shall I say?" 1 asked. "I'll put in your mouth what you have to say." So I went to meet him and he told me, "We like the idea of Auroville very much, but can't accept that line because we don't believe in God." So I said, "Let's see what you can accept. Do you believe in progress?" "Yes, of course. But progress towards what?" "Just progress. What about progress toward Perfection?" I asked. He liked that one very much. "This could be a new slogan for the Communist Party!"

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

Amrita reading out the Charter in Tamil

Udar and Roger preparing for the inauguration - 28th Feb. 1968

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Udar at the Mike - Master of Ceremonies

Part of the audience - front row: Max, Richard, Maggi, Ramchandra, Norman, madhv - Back row: Lilou, Udar

Placing the soil of Auroville in the urn Fabienne, Kalya

So then I said, "What about progress towards Ultimate Perfection?" "These are just big empty words," he answered. "Well, what is the meaning of zero or infinity? They have no meaning, but they are essential for mathematics." "All right," he said, "I'll accept Ultimate Perfection." "But that is the Divine," I explained. "Is that so?" he answered. "Then we'll accept it." That is how the two Russian children came to the Inauguration ceremony. - Udar- One morning Mother came down and told me, "Udar,

Placing the soil in the Urn

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Nilini and Ranju - sealing the Urn I had a wonderful vision last night." She told me to take notes and She described it: She called it the "Temple of the Soul." Then She told me to make a drawing of it. When I brought it back, She told me, "You've got it exactly." She gave it to Roger Anger to work upon. This was the beginning of Matrimandir. - Udar -

Udar wuth the UNESCO Geneneral secretary

Auroville Inauguration - 28th Feb. 1968 The Banyan Tree

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