Sadhana Forest: A Temple of Environmentalism in the South

Written by Kabir Arora / 28 September 2009 / Read Kabir Arora's latest blog entries.

Integrating the planet into daily life: Aviram Rozin

“I don`t see any conflict between human development and the health of planet. By integrating planet in our thoughts, in our daily life we will realize the importance of Madre Earth”, said Aviram Rozin, Founder of Sadhana Forest, whilst telling me about this forest-in-making.

Sadhana Forest is to be found in the extreme south-east of India, in a village called Morathandi near the former French Colony Pudducherry (Pondicherry). It is not a fully-fledged forest yet, but is on the way to becoming so. Under the supreme guidance of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo, this project started on the 19 December 2003, on the day of the Jewish Light festival in the Aiyanar Temple. It is a unique collaboration of eastern and western spirituality, that could be called a Mecca of Environmentalism in India.

This reforestation project was initiated by Aviram Rozin with the support of his wife Yorit, together with two locals, Ballu and Swami. When they settled there, the area was totally barren and yellowish, he says. The only wish they had was to save the tropical evergreen dry forest. As a priority, they created earthen dams to stop the water flow of rainfall away from the site and then planted more than 18,000 trees of the indigenous variety.

Slowly, said Aviram, a green landscape started to emerge. A mud pool was created with other earthen dams, and this harvested the rainwater. Indeed, this veritable water vision that Aviram and his team had in their minds, was implemented with a resultant rise of the underground water level by up to six meters.  

Life in Sadhana Forest

The only law which governs Sadhana Forest is to live in peace with nature.  For this purpose huts were constructed, solar panels installed to supply electricity and the toilets made in such a way to ensure that nothing remained as waste. Manure is prepared from both the kitchen waste and human excreta. Only biodegradable toiletries are allowed. There are no fans and air-conditioners, with natural, pure air there to enjoy. For food, only vegan is on the menu.

A whole community has now emerged from Sadhana Forest, which includes 1500 people, both Indian and foreign. The experiment reminds one of Mohan Das Karam Chand Gandhi’s Phoenix settlement.

Everyone staying in Sadhana Forest has to work for four hours a day. The day starts at 5:30 with the first wake up call. For the first two hours, from 6:00 to 8:00, everyone works in the forest except for the breakfast chefs. After that, again two hours of work are carried out in the compound from 9:00 to 11:00. After this, everyone is busy with whatever they wish to do. This is how life goes on.

This forest has supported the growth of a huge family, that stand by one another, even living across ‘borders’. Every Friday, for example, the Sadhana Forest Eco Club organizes a film show to which people from Auroville, a nearby sustainably-living community, are invited. After the show, a delicious vegan dinner is served to everyone. There is no television in Sadhana Forest aside from this, but many musical instruments are there. One can enjoy anything from Indian classical music to Portuguese melodies in the forest. A small library is also there with the books on many different subjects.

There is no boundary made in the name of religion either, in recognition of the fact that nation everyone is for everyone.

Story of the Founders

Aviram and Yorit came from Tel Aviv, Israel. Aviram was a psychologist by profession. But the way of life in which they were living did not suit him and his family. They were in search of true goal in life. This search brought them to India, and they decided to stay here for the rest of their lives.

A true friend, said Aviram, asked them to move to Auroville and there, they became followers of Aurobindo and the Mother. Later on, they acquired 70 acres of land in the outskirts of Auroville to form a community of their own, aimed to save the environment.

These two environmental Gurus now live there with their two daughters, and guide people on how to live in peace with Madre Nature.

Planes para el futuro

This project has inspired people living in all of the far corners of world. As a result of Aviram and Yorit’s effort, a sister project to Sadhana Forest has been founded in Senegal, Western Africa. Aviram, with his team, are planning to take a round of the whole India as part of an outreach program.  

The true driver behind this all has been the raising of consciousness, as Sri Aurobindo taught. Let us all contribute to this havana of environmentalism