Work on Aurovile or 'The City of Dawn', was started in the year 1968. Over 30 years later, it is still incomplete. It is also called 'The International Township for Harmony', which is based on the concept of the mother, an entirely independent multi-racical community work and live in self-fashioned, wildly original homes. Consisting of 50 settlements spread across 20 sq.km.

A large modern architectural marvel, the Maitri Mandir houses a meditation room that holds the largest single glass crystal in the world.