The Matrimandir (Sanskrit for ''Temple of The Mother'') is an edifice of spiritual significance for practitioners of

Integral yoga Integral yoga, sometimes also called supramental yoga, is the yoga-based philosophy and practice of Sri Aurobindo and ''The Mother'' (Mirra Alfassa). Central to ''Integral yoga'' is the idea that Spirit manifests itself in a process of involu ...

, in the centre of

Auroville Auroville (; City of Dawn) is an experimental township in Viluppuram district, mostly in the state of Tamil Nadu, India, with some parts in the Union Territory of Pondicherry in India. It was founded in 1968 by Mirra Alfassa (known as "the Mo ...

established by The Mother of the

Sri Aurobindo Ashram The Sri Aurobindo Ashram is a spiritual community (ashram) located in Pondicherry, in the Indian territory of Puducherry. The ashram grew out of a small community of disciples who had gathered around Sri Aurobindo after he retired from ...

. It is called ''soul of the city'' and is situated in a large open space called ''Peace''. Matrimandir does not belong to any particular religion or sect.

Structure and surroundings

The Matrimandir took 37 years to build, from the laying of the foundation stone at sunrise on 21 February 1971 - the Mother's 93rd birthday - to its completion in May 2008. It is in the form of a huge sphere surrounded by twelve petals. The

Geodesic dome A geodesic dome is a hemispherical thin-shell structure (lattice-shell) based on a geodesic polyhedron. The triangular elements of the dome are structurally rigid and distribute the structural stress throughout the structure, making geodesic dom ...

is covered by golden discs and reflects sunlight, which gives the structure its characteristic radiance. Inside the central dome is a meditation hall known as the ''inner chamber'' - this contains the largest optically-perfect glass globe in the world. The Matrimandir, and its surrounding gardens in the central Peace Area, is open to the public by appointment. The four main pillars that support the structure of Matrimandir, and carry the Inner Chamber, have been set at the four main directions of the compass. These four pillars are symbolic of the four aspects of the mother as described by

Sri Aurobindo Sri Aurobindo (born Aurobindo Ghose; 15 August 1872 – 5 December 1950) was an Indian philosopher, yogi, maharishi, poet, and Indian nationalist. He was also a journalist, editing newspapers such as ''Vande Mataram''. He joined the ...

, and are named after these four aspects. File:Matrimandir1.JPG, Matrimandir and the banyan tree, the centre of

File:Matrimandir.JPG, The Matrimandir in Auroville, Tamil Nadu, India File:Matrimandir Auroville Dome.jpg, The golden discs that build up the Matrimandir dome

References

External links

Visiting the MatrimandirChronicles of the Inner Chamber
- by the 'Matrimandir Action Committee' * Sri Aurobindo Meditation Tourism in Tamil Nadu Visionary environments 1971 establishments in Tamil Nadu Auroville Geodesic domes {{India-struct-stub