24

Architectural Concept

Original model of Matrimandir and its ‘petals’ (1971)

Roger Anger had three images in mind when he conceived the Matrimandir in 1970:

First image: Brahman’s primeval ‘egg’

The architect gave the shape of a flattened sphere (horizontal diameter: 36 m, height:

29 m) to this „egg‟ of creation by rotating an oval, a „shalagrama‟, an ancient Tantric

symbol symbolising „the unity of creation‟. This is indeed a fitting symbol for the

„soul‟ of a city dedicated to the realisation of “an actual Human Unity”.

Second image: a radiating golden supramental sun emerging from matter

The architect represented the Matrimandir as the meeting point between matter‟s

aspiration arising from below and the Divine Grace descending from above.

The Divine Grace is represented by a ray of sunlight which it reflected by a heliostat

and beams through the Matrimandir from top to bottom.

The Matrimandir itself represents the combined effect of the Divine Grace and of

matter‟s aspiration resulting in the new – Supramental – consciousness emerging

from matter (the ground), breaking the crust of the earth and creating in the process

two crater-like shapes (a large one followed by a smaller one) and ripples all around

(shapes of the garden plots). What emerges is a golden supramental sun whose light

radiates in all directions (symbolically its 12 rays are represented by 12 radial

pathways which break through first and second craters and other ripples). This

radiating sun represents the new consciousness which emerges to illumine the earth

with its new Light. It is gold because gold is the colour of the Supramental.

Third image: A lotus in full bloom

„Aurobindo‟ in Bengali means „lotus‟ and, according to Sri Aurobindo, “The Mother

is the Consciousness and Force of the Divine – which is the Mother of all things.”

As the lotus symbolises the „Divine Consciousness‟, the Mother‟s symbol represents

a lotus in full bloom and the architect gave this shape to the Matrimandir and its

surroundings. Hence, the 12 segments of crater which surround the Matrimandir are

called its 12 large „petals‟ and are followed by 12 small „petals‟ and all plots in the

gardens are contoured to represent more petals of this lotus in full bloom.

(This probably explains also why the Mother wanted the white Urn in the

Amphitheatre to be in the shape of a lotus bud.)

25

Vertical Section of the Matrimandir

26

Structure

Roger Anger designed the Matrimandir,

except for its Inner Chamber, which the

Mother repeatedly saw in visions.

T. K. Santhanam, scientist at the Structural

Engineering Research Centre – Madras

calculated its structure.

Piero Cicionesi, an Italian-Aurovilian

architect, prepared all the working

drawings and supervised its construction1

which was carried out by Aurovilians and

local villagers working together.

The principal load carrying members of the

superstructure are the four pairs of sickle-

shaped, 38m high reinforced concrete

piers. Each pair of piers is 2.1m wide.

Their thickness is 40cm above ground

level and varies from 40cm to 70cm below.

Four sets of pillars Up to Chamber level Up to the top

First came the foundations and the four pairs of piers supporting the entire structure.

These were completed on 17th November 1973 at the time the Mother left her body.

The four pairs of ribs were completed in 1976; they are extensions of the four piers

and are joined by ring beams at 1st & 2

nd level, Chamber floor level and at the top.

The Chamber floor, walls and roof were completed in 1979.

In 1980, the steel structure of the twin spiral

ramps and, later, the construction crane were

manufactured in the Matrimandir workshop.

They were installed at their respective places

the same year.

Chamber structure

& steel structure of the twin spiral ramps

1 Piero‟s task ended with the space-frame‟s completion and the Inner Chamber‟s full completion.

27

Construction crane in place and space frame completed

The construction crane, erected in 19802, was

required to lift the prefabricated concrete beams

into place, each weighing half a ton. Altogether

they form the space-frame which gives the

Matrimandir its spherical shape and supports its

outer shell and inner „skin‟.

These beams were cast in Matrimandir workshop

and then hoisted to their exact position and

secured. The „nodes‟ which join six beams

together were cast in-situ using „lost‟ ferrocement

shuttering. All this was complete in 1987. Space-frame seen from inside

Ferrocement triangles being installed to create the Matrimandir’s outer shell

The outer shell consists of ferrocement triangles (with a hole at their centre to install

a porthole), which were prefabricated in a workshop, lifted in place and then grouted.

A membrane was then applied to the whole surface to waterproof it but, 10 years

later, it had to be entirely removed and re-applied when it was discovered that it was

not adhering anymore to the surface. This repair work was completed in 2006.

2 It was removed in 2000 after having been used to hoist all the prefabricated concrete beams and

ferrocement triangles and most discs.

28

Outer Face

The Matrimandir is a flattened sphere (supported by four pillars) which is 29 m high

and has a diameter of 36 m. Its vertical section is an oval, an ancient Tantric shape

called “Shalagrama”, which symbolises the unity of creation.

This flattened sphere is covered with some

1,400 golden discs to give the image of a

radiating golden Supramental sun.

Approximately one third of the discs are

concave and large (their diameter is 2.3m or

2.4m); two thirds are convex and smaller

(their diameter is 1.3m, 1.4m, 1.5m or 1.6m).

Each large disc weighs 210kg.

The first discs manufactured (about a third of

the total) have a structure made of glass

reinforced plastic; all others are made of

stainless steel.

Each disc is held in place approximately

80cm away from the structure by stainless

steel „legs‟ (10&12 mm dia. stainless steel

rods which are bolted to countless SS bolts

which protrude from the structure).

Architect Roger Anger working on a

model of the Matrimandir with discs

About 2 million golden tiles (4.5cm x 4.5cm) were made in

a Matrimandir workshop. A very thin gold „leaf‟ (24 carat)

was placed between two sheets of glass and this sandwich

was then heated at a high temperature in an oven to fuse

together glass sheets and gold leaf. Altogether some 20kg

of gold were used to produce enough tiles to cover the

8,000m² surface of the discs. 1.6m diameter discs used

1,024 tiles while the largest ones (2.4m diameter) used

2,200 tiles each. Golden tile

„Structural glazing‟, a two-component

long-lasting silicone, was used to affix the

tiles to the discs. A yellow silicone was

then applied as grouting to hide the black

„structural glazing‟.

Note that the tiles come in several different

shapes; the closest to the centre of a disc

are more tapered.

Tile pattern on a golden disc

29

The Matrimandir’s four Entrances

In 1972, the Mother named the four pairs of pillars which support the Matrimandir

after Her four Aspects or Personalities. These pillars serve also as the four main

entrances to the sphere. In Sri Aurobindo‟s words, these Personalities are:

Maheshwari

One is her personality of calm wideness and comprehending wisdom and tranquil

benignity and inexhaustible compassion and sovereign and surpassing majesty

and all-ruling greatness.

Mahakali

Another embodies her power of splendid strength and irresistible passion, her

warrior mood, her overwhelming will, her impetuous swiftness and world-shaking

force.

Mahalakshmi

A third is vivid and sweet and wonderful with her deep secret of beauty and

harmony and fine rhythm, her intricate and subtle opulence, her compelling

attraction and captivating grace.

Mahasaraswati

The fourth is equipped with her close and profound capacity to initiate knowledge

and careful flawless work and quiet and exact perfection in all things.

Above, on the sides and behind each entrance (between pillars), a golden „shield‟ has

been installed to mark the Matrimandir‟s four entrances and, in front of these

„shields‟ has also been placed a very large golden disc with four petals, at the centre

of which a geometrical shape indicates which entrance one faces:

North Mahakali Strength Red square

South Maheshwari Wisdom Orange hexagon

East Mahalakshmi Harmony Pink circle

West Mahasaraswati Perfection Light blue triangle

Entrance staircases Mahakali entrance Golden door closed

30

First level and central staircases

To reach the first level, one has to go down one of the four wide sloped radial

pathways between two large „petals‟. There one has to remove one‟s shoes and

climb the staircase in the pillars. As one climbs, a sensor triggers the automatic

opening of an golden door whose design matches that of the golden „shield‟ above it.

Having reached the top of the stairs, one enters the first level, a transition space

whose floor is in white and grey marble and where one sits on a circular bench of

white marble to put on white socks.

First level: entrance of one of the twin central spiral staircases

To continue one‟s ascent to the Inner Chamber, one has to go through a narrow

doorway made of marble blocks. The architect conceived the staggering of these

large blocks as a symbol of the need to make an effort in this yoga. The twin spiral

staircase gives the appearance

of being suspended on account

of a gap at floor level.

Having passed through this

entrance, one comes into a

brightly lit spiral staircase

made entirely of white marble.

As its outer wall is an inverted

cone, the higher one climbs,

the wider the steps become and

the more one discovers the

golden-pink inner skin whose

colour permeates everything,

including the white marble. Staircase (white marble steps and walls)

31

Second level and spiral ramps

Having climbed one of the two spiral staircases, one reaches the second level which

gives a feeling of vastness. It is entirely bathed in the golden-pink light which comes

from the inner skin; hence even the white marble and carpet appear golden-pink.

The second level has a white marble floor and has the same parapet and handrail as is

used for the spiral ramps: curved „white‟ toughened glass with a white wooden

handrail on top.

From inside, the Matrimandir is a

translucent sphere, except between

each pair of ribs where the concrete

shell is decorated with a mosaic of

white marble whose joints are made

of golden tiles. Water runs down in

the middle of each rib along a

narrow channel of golden tiles; at the

end it falls and is pumped up again.

The mantra „Om Anandamayi,

Chatanyamayi, Satyamayi, Parame‟3

is inscribed on a marble slab by two

of the four water falls (East & West).

The two landings at the North &

South ribs which mark the starting

point of the spiral ramps, are clad

with white marble from Rajasthan.

Two tall sculptures made of white

marble stand by these two landings

and each holds a tiny lamp whose

white flame is kept burning.

Lower part of one of the spiral ramps

The sides of the structure (steel trusses) of the spiral

ramps are covered with ferrocement. Their lower

face is covered with particle board panels and their

upper face with aluminium honeycomb panels

(similar to those used for the floor of commercial

airplanes) on top of which a white woollen carpet

has been fitted.

The parapet is curved „white‟ glass with a white

wooden handrail on top.

Lower part of the East rib

3 The Mother translated this mantra: “Om, She the Delight, She the Consciousness, She the Truth, She the Supreme.”

32

Inner Skin

From outside the Matrimandir looks like a radiating golden Supramental sun; but

from inside the Mother wanted it to appear like a translucent sphere which lets in a

golden pink light. She gave the architect a small swatch of a saree to show him the

particular colour she wanted. The colour is that of a hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa –

sinensis) which the Mother named: “Beauty of Supramental Love” and “Auroville”.

The comment she gave for this flower is: “It invites us to live at its height”.

‘Inner Skin’ complete

In the following text, the Mother, speaks of various shades of “Grace light”:

“And if I want an entirely material action (but this is recent, it‟s recently, since

that new Consciousness came4), then in its physical action, on the physical, it

becomes slightly coloured: it‟s luminous, it‟s gold with pink in it, but it‟s not

pink... (The Mother picks up a hibiscus near her). It‟s like that.”

Q.: Like the „Auroville flower‟?

“Like the Auroville flower. But I DELIBERATELY

chose it as the „Auroville flower‟ because of that.

And I have the impression that that‟s the

supramental colour: when I see beings of the

supramental, they are... not exactly this colour...

It‟s not like a flower, it's like flesh. But it's like that.”

(The Mother indicates the colour of the flower).

‘Auroville flower’

To create a translucent inner skin of this particular colour, a very special white fabric

(made of fibre glass woven in a sophisticated manner) has been stretched over 756

triangular frames (made of aluminium profiles especially extruded for this purpose).

Coloured foil of the precise colour will be placed on the outer shell‟s 668 portholes to

filter the natural light that enters in through them in the daytime.

At night time the coloured light is provided by 1,320 electronic modules. (Each one

powers 4 low-consumption Light Emitting Diodes of the 3 „fundamental‟ colours

whose respective intensity is adjusted very precisely by a computer.)

4 In January 1969.

33

Inner Chamber

The Inner Chamber has been built

exactly according to the “repeated

visions” of the Mother.

She described it to an Ashram

engineer, Udar, who at her request

made a measured drawing which

she then passed on to the architect.

She told him not to change any

thing and to include this Chamber

in a larger building, which she said

she had not „seen‟.

The Inner Chamber has a 12m

radius (wall included). Its floor is

covered with a white woollen

carpet (except at the centre).

Its wall is 8.65 m. high. It has 12

facets which represent “the 12

months of the year” and are clad

with white marble from Lasa, Italy.

Its white ceiling also has 12 facets,

each one resting on one of the

wall‟s facets and sloping by 30°

upwards towards the centre. The

Chamber‟s height at its centre is

thus 15.2 m.

Section and plan of the Inner Chamber

It has two double doors (located on opposite sides) made of thick white marble

slabs. As wished by the Mother, the entrance door faces East. When closed,

these doors are more or less invisible as she did not „see‟ them in her vision.

It has 12 large steel cylindrical columns of 60cm diameter, covered with white

lacquer, which the Mother had clearly „seen‟ and which stand half-way between

the centre of the room and each one of its 12 corners. As their height is the same

as that of the walls, they do not touch the ceiling and have no structural function.

As it has no windows, it is air-conditioned. The only light comes from a vertical

beam of light, which the Mother wanted to be slightly golden and visible. This

beam is normally a ray of the sun which is reflected down into the Chamber by a

heliostat whose computerised tracking system keeps it very precisely oriented.

Electrical spotlights create a similar effect at night and on cloudy days.

34

The Inner Chamber

At the centre of the room, there is the object of concentration upon which falls a

single vertical beam of sunlight.

This object is a crystal globe (70cm diameter, 400kg) custom-made of optically

perfect glass in Germany by „Schott‟ and later polished by „Zeiss‟.

It rests on a „cube stand‟ (35cm side) consisting of 4 upright gilded symbols of Sri

Aurobindo that hold each other up by the points of their triangles.

This „cube‟ stands at the centre of the room on a 3m diameter symbol of the

Mother, which is engraved in a white marble slab.

The crystal globe is positioned exactly at the sphere‟s centre.

The Mother stressed that “the important thing is the play of the sunbeam on the

centre. Because that becomes a symbol – the symbol of the future realisation.”

The Inner Chamber is a place meant for concentration, to “learn how to concentrate”

with a view to try to finding one‟s consciousness.

“Concentration, for our yoga, means when the consciousness is fixed in a

particular state (e.g. peace) or movement (e.g. aspiration, will, coming into

contact with the Mother, taking the Mother‟s name); meditation is when the inner

mind is looking at things to get the right knowledge.” (Sri Aurobindo)

The Mother clearly expressed the wish that Sri Aurobindo‟s and her teaching should

not become the basis of any new religion or sect. Hence, she did not want religious

practices and rituals of any kind to take place in the Matrimandir – not even

organised collective concentrations. No ritual, no meditation guide, no statues, no

photos, no incense, no flowers, no music, nothing that might give birth to a new cult.

35

Area below the Matrimandir

Below the Matrimandir, the architect initially wanted to build a lotus pond, but when

he realised that lotuses will not bloom in the shade, instead of plants, he used 216

petal-shaped marble slabs to create a pond over which water flows from the outside

towards the centre. At the centre of this pond, there is a crystal globe (17cm dia.)

which will receive the beam of sunlight which transits Matrimandir from top to

bottom, as if to „illumine the depths‟.

‘Lotus pond’ below the Matrimandir

The smaller photo shows the crystal globe at the centre

Arrangements have been made to enable people to concentrate on the Mother‟s four

Aspects or Personalities while sitting under the pair of pillars which she named after

these. Above the lotus pond, a symbol of the Mother clad in white marble allows the

sunbeam to pass through its central point and fall onto the small crystal globe.

Meditation space below a pair of pillars The Mother’s symbol in marble

(above the lotus pond)

36

12 Meditation Rooms inside the ‘Petals’

In January 1972, the Mother gave to the architect the following documents:

1) Sri Aurobindo‟s instructions for the colours of her symbol, 2) a colour chart of her

symbol and 3) the list of the Mother‟s twelve „Virtues‟.

“Centre and four powers, white.

The twelve all different colours in three groups:

top group red, passing to orange towards yellow;

next group, yellow passing through green towards blue; and

third group, blue passing through violet towards red

If white is not convenient, the centre may be gold (powder).” Sri Aurobindo

20th

March 1934

The Mother wrote the following list of 12

Virtues in French and explained that the first

eight represent attitudes towards the Divine

and the last four attitudes towards humanity.

Sincerity, Humility, Gratitude,

Perseverance, Aspiration, Receptivity,

Progress, Courage, Kindness,

Generosity, Equality, Peace.

Colour chart given by the Mother

In July 1972, she told him verbally how to match the colours and the Virtues.

The colour light blue for Sincerity and dark blue for Peace.

Rotate counter-clockwise.5

5 Note that the Gardens too rotate counter-clockwise and that so do the twin central staircases and

twin spiral ramps.

Note also that none of these instructions stipulates how to orient the Mother‟s symbol when

placed horizontally. As the architect thought that the Mother had not given any instruction in this

respect, he decided (in the 1990‟s) to put the Courage room next to the Mahakali pillar and to

diametrically oppose the only garden and meditation room which bear the same name: Progress.

37

All 12 rooms have the same shape, a

flattened sphere (like the Matrimandir

itself but smaller). The insides of the

shell of these rooms are painted in

different colours: Sincerity is pale blue,

Humility and Gratitude have different

shades of green, Perseverance is

yellow, Aspiration is golden yellow,

Receptivity is orange, Courage is red,

Generosity is violet and Peace is dark

blue. All the other rooms have colours

in between those mentioned above.

So, one sits and concentrates on a

particular Virtue while being bathed in

the light of the corresponding colour.

One sits on a concrete slab clad with white marble, which seems to float inside the

flattened sphere. The rooms are air conditioned and there is an object of

concentration at eye level (if one sits on the floor). This object is a translucent oval

disc (made of Glass Reinforced Plastic) which is placed in front of a small window

through which natural light enters at daytime. At night time electrical light produces

a similar effect. An Auroville artist has designed some geometrical patterns on these

objects of concentration: a different pattern for each room.

Sincerity Courage

A circular corridor gives access to these 12

meditation rooms. The outer wall of each one of

these sections of corridor is clad with red

sandstones and the architect has used the pattern

created by the joints between the stones to try and

express each particular Virtue. (For example, in

the corridor of Peace, the joints between stones

are horizontal and thick; but horizontal in the

corridor of Humility, the joints are very discreet.) Corridor in Courage

38

Twelve Gardens and their significance

Names given by the Mother to Matrimandir’s twelve gardens6:

Existence, Consciousness, Bliss, Light, Life, Power,

Wealth, Usefulness, Progress, Youth, Harmony, Perfection.

The sequence in which these names are listed is important because, in Sanskrit, the

first three names are Sat-Chit-Ananda, which is the essence of the Divine. Perfection

being the ultimate aim of evolution comes last in the list. The gardens rotate counter-

clockwise and the first and last gardens are on either side of the East radial pathway.

It was probably towards the end of 1971 or early 1972 that the Mother selected the

central flower of each garden in the presence of Richard (an inmate of Sri Aurobindo

Ashram) who had brought these and many other flowers to her. She selected a

hibiscus for each of the gardens except Wealth and Perfection. (The Mother had

given spiritual names to some 900 flowers and had named “Power” most hibiscus.)

Some other flowers expressing the vibration of each particular garden will also find a

place in it.

For the Garden of Wealth, Richard reminded the Mother that “Wealth” was the name

she had given to water lilies and “Riches” to cacti; she concluded: “These flowers

will do”. Hence in the Garden of Wealth, there will be mainly ponds with water lilies

of different colours and a garden (a rock garden?) with all sorts of cacti.

The Mother’s explanations of what these twelve gardens have to express:

“It must be a thing of great beauty, of such beauty that when people come they

will say „Ah, this is it‟.”

“One must know how to move from consciousness to consciousness.”

“It must be an expression of that consciousness which we are trying to bring

down.”

The person to whom the Mother said this (Narad) also understood from her that the

Garden of Power must really express power, the Garden of Harmony, harmony and

so forth; that “the vibration and essence of each garden must be felt”.

Significance of these twelve gardens as a whole:

Though the Mother did not say it explicitly these gardens as a whole seem to

represent what the Mother calls “the twelve Powers of the Mother manifested for her

work”. Sri Aurobindo explained that these “12 powers are the vibrations that are

necessary for the complete manifestation”.

It is probably because “the manifestation” is not yet “complete” and all these powers

and vibrations haven‟t “manifested” fully as yet that the Mother said that these

twelve gardens must “be an expression of that consciousness which we are trying to

bring down”. This explains also why the architect keeps on stressing that these

gardens will evolve with the consciousness of the Aurovilians.

6 The Mother gave these names in French: Existence, Conscience, Félicité, Lumière, Vie, Pouvoir,

Richesse, Utilité, Progrès, Jeunesse, Harmonie, Perfection.

39

About Sat-Chit-Ananda (Sanskrit names of the first three gardens)7

“That which has thrown itself out into forms is a triune Existence-Consciousness-

Bliss. Sachchidananda… All things that exist are what they are as terms of that

existence, terms of that conscious force, terms of that delight of being.” (Sri Aurobindo)

About Light, Life and Power (the second group of three gardens)8

The Mother described Sri Aurobindo‟s symbol as follows:

“The descending triangle represents Sat-Chit-Ananda.

The ascending triangle represents the aspiring answer from

matter under the form of life, light and love.

The junction of both – the central square – is the perfect

manifestation having at its centre the Avatar of the

Supreme – the lotus.

The water – inside the square – represents the multiplicity, the

creation.” (The Mother)

Sat, Chit and Ananda are the Sanskrit words for Gardens 1, 2 and 3 respectively.

Life and Light are the names of Gardens 4 and 5.

One may wonder what is this „power‟ amongst these twelve „powers‟ and how

love can emanate from matter. On 21st January 1962, while commenting on one

of her visions, the Mother explained:

“It was like a memory, an eternally present memory of that consciousness of

supreme Love emanated by the Lord onto earth – INTO earth – to draw it back

again to Him. And truly it was the descent of the very essence of the divine nature

into the most total divine negation, and thus the abandonment of the divine

condition to take on terrestrial darkness, so as to bring Earth back to the divine

state. And unless That, that supreme Love, becomes all-powerfully conscious

here on Earth, the return can never be definitive.”

Hence, Love appears to be the Power emanated by the Lord into matter to draw it

back again to Him.

About Wealth, Utility and Progress (the third group of three gardens)9

These three appear to be the Powers which are necessary for the divine fulfilment of

life – which is the aim of Sri Aurobindo‟s Yoga (and not the release from life which

is the aim of most other yogas). We have to learn how to produce more and different

kinds of wealth and find ways to utilise these for a substantial progress. This

requires a deep understanding and mastery of these three Powers.

About Youth, harmony and Perfection (the fourth group of three gardens)10

These three gardens are both a means and an end. We all aspire to remain young,

live in harmony and be surrounded by perfection; this would be Ananda. But for it to

be possible, we have to manifest these Powers within ourselves.

7 These three gardens are meant to illustrate Brahman, the eternal Supreme Reality which is beyond time and space

8 These three gardens are intimately linked to Chit (consciousness).

9 These three gardens are connected to Sat (Existence).

10 These three gardens seem to illustrate Ananda (Bliss).

40

Twelve Gardens and their central flowers

01 Garden of Existence 02 Garden of Consciousness

Psychic Power in Existence Supramental Consciousness

The aim of existence is realised. Gloriously awake and powerful – luminous,

Sure of itself and infallible in its movements!

03 Garden of Bliss 04 Garden of Light

Bliss Light of purified power

Calm, tranquil, equal, smiling and Of irresistible simplicity in its power

very gentle in its truly simple austerity. solely consecrated to the Divine.

05 Garden of Life 06 Garden of Power

Power of consciousness Aesthetic power

All the powers of controlling and dominating Beauty is a great power.

the lower movements of inconscient nature.

41

07 Garden of Wealth 08 Garden of Usefulness

Wealth Utility of Auroville

True wealth is that which one offers to the Divine. A creation which aims at teaching

men to surpass themselves

09 Garden of Progress 10 Garden of Youth

Power to progress Beauty of supramental youth

Precious because of its rarity, Exquisitely fresh and powerful

it must be cultivated with care. with uncontested beauty

11 Garden of Harmony 12 Garden of Perfection

Power of harmony Psychological perfection

Simple, noble, dignified, There is not one psychological perfection but five.

powerful and charming They are sincerity, faith, devotion,

aspiration and surrender.

42

Future Lake & Water Supply Though she was fully aware of the area‟s difficult water situation, from the outset

Mother said that Matrimandir and its twelve gardens would be surrounded by a lake.

She envisaged different solutions to provide water for the future town and lake: she

repeatedly mentioned the possibility of desalinating seawater and even spoke of

using water from the Himalayas11

; but when an Aurovilian hydro-geologist explained

to her that as long as average rainfalls would remain abundant here (1,300 mm/year),

the problem was one of adequate resource management and not one of insufficient

resources, she concluded:

“The Aurovilians will have to use their ingenuity to solve this problem.”

Her architect, Roger Anger, kept stressing that “the lake, as pointed out by the

Mother, was meant to be a source of drinking water for the residents of Auroville and

for irrigation of the lands of Auroville”. Indeed, in December 1969, she told Satprem:

“Roger had an idea, it‟s an island at the centre, with water around, running water

which will be used for the whole water supply of the city; and when it has flowed

through the city, it will be sent to a [treatment] plant, and from there to irrigate

all the cultivated lands around.”

Mother kept on reassuring Huta, a lady close to her who kept worrying that this lake

might never be created, that it would be there and, in 1970, she sent her this note:

“It has been decided and remains decided that the Matrimandir will be

surrounded with water. However, water is not available just now and will be

available only later; so it is decided to build the Matrimandir now and surround

it with water only later; perhaps in a few years‟ time… The Matrimandir will be

built now and water brought round it later.”

The future island‟s shape and size

were finalised early in 1971 (and

hence the location of the Lake‟s

inner bank) when Mother approved

Roger Anger‟s model of the Island

whose shape is an oval of the same

proportions as that of Matrimandir‟s

vertical section but 10 times larger

(360 m x 290 m). She commented

that “10 is the number of accompli-

shment”.

Roger Anger‟s final plan12

of the

Matrimandir area shows a 162,000m²

lake with an average width of 115m.

Roger Anger’s final plan for the Matrimandir Lake

11

Both solutions are actually becoming possible because of technological advances in the field of

desalination and because the Government of India is seriously considering interconnecting India‟s

main rivers, which could bring water from the Himalayas to the South. 12

Roger Anger wrote his specifications for the Lake in 2005 and passed away in 2008.

43

Future Lake & Water Supply The 162,000 m² Lake designed by the architect would lose some 390,000 m³ of water

per year by evapo-transpiration alone and some more by seepage. Considering that

the level of the aquifer in the area keeps getting lower and that it is clearly threatened

of salination, is it acceptable not to make at least some of this water percolate into the

aquifer instead? Can sufficient water be found (in average 1,100 m³/day) to

compensate for this loss and at what cost? Though desalination may eventually

become a must for domestic water, it would be far too costly (and thus wasteful and

unacceptable) to keep the Lake full in such a way as long as it will exist.

The Lake will receive some water without any need of pumping (rain falling directly

on it and runoff water from its watershed flowing into it) and lose some (by

evaporation and by pumping from it to irrigate the gardens on the Island and on its

outer bank). Hence one could decide not to compensate the deficit created in the

aquifer by the creation of this Lake – which would be bad – but to simply use

desalinated seawater (or other?) to keep the Lake‟s level within permissible limits.

In this case the volume of water to be pumped from somewhere else would probably

be less than half of 390,000m³/year as the average yearly rainfall is about half the

average yearly evaporation,

Turning the Lake as a useful component of the township‟s water system would

require using the fact that the architect agreed to let its level vary by up to 0.75m so

that it can be used as a runoff water harvesting reservoir of (162,000m² x 0.75m =)

121.500m³ – a gigantic tank. Keeping in mind the fact that, as the city develops,

maybe half of its 490ha will become impermeable and that hence runoff water

flowing out of these areas (≈ 3,000,000m³) area will need to be dealt with, one would

create all over the township a number of runoff water collection tanks where runoff

water would be collected and stored during and after rains, to be pumped uphill13

(after treatment) as soon as there would be place in the Lake to store it until it can be

used. The lake‟s water would then be pumped out of the Lake, treated and used as

domestic water. After that it would be again treated in wastewater treatment plants

and used as irrigation water in the greenbelt. Studies will need to be made to see

whether open tanks would do the job or whether one would have to create covered

(underground) water tanks so as to avoid losses by evaporation. At first glance, it

would seem that considering the enormous volume of runoff water to be dealt with,

covered tanks won‟t be an option; in all likelihood one will have to opt for open

tanks (which, for the same cost as covered tanks, would be much larger. In order to

reduce evaporation from these open tanks, one would pump (uphill) from one to the

other so as to have only full and empty tanks and as few as possible partly full tanks.

Studies are underway to find ways to realise the Mother‟s vision. The first phase will

probably see the creation of a runoff water channel all around the future Island, the

creation of a first section of the Lake (4,000m²) and the creation of some other tanks

(open or underground) where runoff water would be stored temporarily until it can be

pumped into the first section of the Lake to keep its level within permissible limits.

The Lake‟s final size will mainly depend on the experts‟ “ingenuity”.

13

Pumping water uphill from these tanks would require less power than pumping it up from the beach.

44

Top of the Matrimandir

The top of the Matrimandir is accessible only to the maintenance staff. Are located

here: Heliostat, maintenance crane and 2 AC ducts (in line with each other).

Layout of the top of the Matrimandir

(East is shown here on top)

The role of the heliostat is to

always reflect a ray of sunlight

down into the Chamber. It consists

of 3 mirrors: a mobile mirror

(equipped with a computerised

tracking system), and two fixed

mirrors. When the sun is hidden

(at night or on cloudy days), 12

spotlights are used to create the

same effect.

Heliostat in operation early morning

The maintenance crane which is fully

collapsible and telescopic (so as not to be

visible when not in use) was designed and

manufactured in Germany. Made of

stainless steel, it can lift 500kg anywhere

at the sphere‟s periphery; it is used for disc

cleaning operations and, if ever needed, for

disc removal/repair.

Maintenance crane unfolded