Kurma: An 'ancient' village in modern times

Their day does not start with checking emails and Facebook notifications instead they wake up at 4.30 am and perform aarti and morning hymn to God. After having "prasad" they go about their daily chores such as farming, constructing houses, and religious practices.

Kurma (AP): We live in a time where the basic amenities of life often include smartphones, automatic gadgets for household work and even meeting our loved ones virtually without being with them in person. But the residents of a small village in Andhra Pradesh have turned the clock 'backward' leading a lifestyle devoid of modern technology. They have shunned all the artificial comforts of modern lifestyle including electricity and embraced the traditional rural Indian way of life.

This is Kurma village, located in the Srikakulam district. Upon entering the village one will get a soothing glimpse of pure rural Indian lifestyle with people living in harmony with nature. Instead of living in concrete houses, the villagers prefer living in earthen thatched roofed huts. Not even iron and cement are used in constructing the houses in this unique village. The huts here are built with mixture of sand, lime, jaggery and toor dal in the traditional Indian way. They don't use any detergent powder to wash their clothes instead natural substances are used for the purpose.

Established in 2018 by Swami Prabhupada, the founder of the International Krishna Consciousness Association, the residents of the village, many of whom are from an affluent background lead a self-sustaining rural lifestyle where they obtain essential materials such as wool and cloth from nature and cultivate their own food grain. This year they have grown 198 sacks of grain along with a sufficient quantity of vegetables.

Their day does not start with checking emails and Facebook notifications instead they wake up at 4.30 am and perform aarti and morning hymn to God. After having "prasad" they go about their daily chores such as farming, constructing houses, and religious practices.

Here access to quality education is not restricted by steep school fees and once bank balance. It is free for all. Apart from learning the various branches of science, students are taught through the Vedic Shastra-based education system with special emphasis on self-restraint and good conduct. They are fluent in fluent in Telugu, Sanskrit, English, and Hindi.

The villagers said that their decision to shun the use of electricity is based on the apprehension that it will introduce more modern amenities in Kurma which will make their lives more mechanical.

"I am came from Palasa. This village is showing what our ancestors were. There is a difference between the way of life now and the way of life then. It would be nice to have that old way of life again," Seshu Kumar of Palasa told ETV Bharat before he headed to attend the evening aarti.