Matrimandir Layout

The Matrimandir, a huge gold disc-clad sphere, which seems to be rising out of the earth, symbolises the birth of a new consciousness.

It is situated in a large open area called 'Peace', which is planned to be the site of beautifully landscaped gardens creating different atmospheres, from where the evolving township begins to radiate outwards.

The atmosphere within and around the Matrimandir is quiet and charged, and the area naturally beautiful, even though at present large parts of it are still under construction/development. Literally, 'Temple of the Mother' (though it is not in fact a temple) and located at the heart of the township, the Matrimandir is seen as the "soul of Auroville".

It contains an all-white marble-clad Inner Chamber with a wall-to-wall white carpet, where a beam of light focuses down onto a 70 cm diameter optical quality glass globe surrounded by 12 white pillars.

The spacious inner meditation chamber is a haven of white silence. In the Chamber’s centre sits a pure crystal globe whose radiating light is the symbol of future realisations.The Inner Chamber is devoid of images, organised meditations, flowers, incense, religion or religious forms. The Mother, who saw this inner chamber in a vision, regarded it as “the central Force of Auroville, the cohesive Force of Auroville” and the “symbol of the Divine’s answer to man’s aspiration for perfection.”

There are no images, no organised meditations, no flowers, no incense, no religions or religious forms. It is a place, in the Mother's words "for those who want to learn to concentrate. No fixed meditations, none of all that, but they should stay there in silence, in silence and concentration. A place for trying to find one's consciousness."