Pavilion of Tibetan Culture

History and today’s organisation.

For the world, Tibet represents a very profound source of knowledge: Auroville wants to participate in the preservation of the unique and living patrimony of Tibet. The Pavilion of Tibetan Culture started in 1968, when two young Tibetans came to visit Auroville. Two years later, the Mother invited 20 Tibetan children, under 12 years old,  to come and live in Auroville.

In 1973,  His Holiness the Dalai Lama met the Mother in Pondicherry and visited Auroville. 10 years later, after many efforts from Aurovilians and their Tibetan friends, HH came again to lay the Foundation Stone of the Tibetan Pavilion.

In 1996, His Holiness blessed the Pavilion with a contribution of 100,000 Rs as seed money for raising the necessary funds to complete the project. The next year, the construction of the Tibetan Pavilion started and was completed in January 2009.

The Pavilion hosts many activities, such as lectures, workshops, art exhibitions, cultural events, Tibetan festivals, student exchanges, vocational training and Tibetan medicine consultations, as well as annual Mandala on New Year’s Eve.

Vision and Missions

“I feel that Tibetan culture with its unique heritage – has developed some kind of energy, which is useful, and very helpful, towards cultivating peace of mind and a joyful life. I feel that there is a potential for Tibet to help humanity…I feel very strong that Tibetan culture will have a future role to play in humanity. So therefore, wherever there are spiritual centers like Auroville, if Tibet can participate it can be a channel to communicate Tibetan culture to other people.”   Dalai Lama address in Auroville, December 24th, 1993.

The main purposes of the Pavilion are to have a cultural center of Tibet in the international zone of Auroville, and a training center for young Tibetans wanting to take advantage of many years of Auroville researches and experiments.