August brought an exciting new addition to Maroma with the opening of the Maroma Rooftop Vegan Café at on the the top floor of our new Spa and shop in Pondicherry.

The café has been a journey of experimentation, many taste tests and plenty of refinement. The result is a new space created around something very simple: good plant-based food and a place where people can meet, slow down and spend time together.

The menu brings Maroma's wider philosophy of conscious living into the kitchen, with thoughtfully prepared vegan dishes, fresh ingredients, drinks and desserts served in the relaxed surroundings of our rooftop.

The café is open 9:00 am–8:00 pm, Thursday to Tuesday, and is closed on Wednesdays.

For us, it represents more than a new café. It is another way of welcoming people into Maroma and sharing the values that have shaped us in Auroville since 1976.

At the end of July, we decided to celebrate Friendship Day by sharing a little of Maroma with the people who matter to us.

From 25 July to 2 August, visitors spending ₹2,000 received a complimentary Maroma gift set, combining our fragrance sachets with a handcrafted candle.

We also launched our Friendship Day Giveaway, with one winner receiving two specially curated Maroma gift sets to share with a friend. Each set brought together a handcrafted candle and Maroma perfume sachets designed to bring fragrance to wardrobes, drawers and the home.

The celebration felt particularly appropriate for Maroma. Relationships have always been at the centre of our story — between the people who work here, our customers around the world, our partners and the wider Auroville community.

Nearly fifty years after Maroma began, those relationships remain fundamental to who we are.

July marked the final month of Echoes of Gold, the summer exhibition at MAJI — Maroma Art Gallery, created as part of Maroma's 50th-year celebrations.

Opening on 18 April and running from 20 April until 27 July 2026, the exhibition brought together work by Arati M Tasheva, Gauri Elisa, G. Kumaresan, Kali Borg, Jyotis Feroud, Manisha Munjal, Paul Pinthon and Supriya Menon Meneghetti. citeturn0search4turn0search2

The exhibition also connected Maroma's present with its beginnings. Among the participating artists was Paul Pinthon, who founded Maroma in Auroville in 1976. What began under a thatched roof as a small initiative producing natural incense has developed over five decades into an international fragrance and wellbeing company rooted in Fair Trade, sustainability and Auroville. citeturn0search15

MAJI itself is a relatively new chapter in that story. Located within the Maroma compound, the gallery was created with Maroma's support as a space for contemporary artistic practice and has increasingly become a meeting point for artists from Auroville and the surrounding region. citeturn0search16

With Echoes of Gold closing on 27 July, we said goodbye to an exhibition that looked back at five decades while also reflecting the creativity that continues to surround Maroma today.

July also gave us an opportunity to turn the camera away from our products and towards something considerably more important: the people who make them.

In our July social series, we asked members of the Maroma team a simple question: “In one word, what are your kids to you?”

One answer captured the spirit perfectly:

“My kids are my life.”

Behind every Maroma incense stick, candle, fragrance and body-care product is a community of people in Auroville. Handcrafting has been part of Maroma's identity since its beginnings in 1976, alongside a commitment to ethical production, sustainability and Fair Trade. citeturn0search15

These short glimpses into the lives of our colleagues are a reminder that Maroma isn't simply a collection of products. It is a community of people, skills, families and relationships built over nearly half a century.

As we approach our 50th anniversary, we want to share more of their stories.