Matrimandir
ARCHITECT: ROGER ANGER
Done by,
ARATHY PRASAD
MANIPAL UNIVERSITY
CONTENTS
Location Map
Introduction
Site Plan
Plan
Section
Construction Details
Lights, Ventilation.
LOCATION
Tamil Nadu
Pondicherry
Auroville center
Introduction
At the very center of Auroville, one finds the ‘soul of the city’, the
matrimandir, situated in a large open area called ‘peace’, from which
the future township will radiate outside.
The spacious inner chamber is the upper hemisphere of the structure is
completely white, with white marble walls and white carpeting.
In the center a pure crystal glass globe, suffuses a ray of electronically
guided sunlight which falls on it through an opening at the apex of the
sphere.
“The most important thing is this : the play of the sun on the center.
Because that becomes the symbol, the symbol of future realizations.”
There are no images, no organized meditations, no flowers, no incense,
no religion and no religious forms.
The mother named the four pairs of pillars which support the
matrimandir after her four aspects of personalities. They are
maheshwari, mahakali, mahalakshmi and mahasaraswati.
SITE PLAN
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 completion in May 2008. It is in the form of a huge sphere
surrounded by twelve pedestals. The Geodesic dome is covered by
golden discs and reflects sunlight, which gives the structure its
characteristic radiance. Inside this 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 fully open to the public.
PLAN
SECTION
CONTRUCTION DETAILS
The Matrimandir is situated at the center of Auroville next to a
Banyan tree.
The exterior is completely covered with a thin sheet of gold. It is
placed as small square tiles on the discs.
The architect Roger Anger found there a solitary banyan tree, a tree
regarded as sacred in India, in a totally barren plateau over looking
the bay of Bengal. The mother decided to make this the center of
Auroville.
At the center of the town, the mother said there would be a park of
unity and a pavilion she named ‘Matrimandir’, translated as the
mothers shrine.
The architect gave the shape of a lotus in full bloom to matrimandir
with its twelve large petals, symbolizing the divine consciousness.
The flattened discs is covered with 1400 golden discs to symbolize a
radiating golden sun.
The golden disc which is
Covered with small tiles of gold
Leaf covered with glass tiles
The inside of the matrimandir is completed covered with white
marble.
There are winding staircases inside leading to the main meditation
chamber. Inside the chamber is complete silence.
The chamber has 12 pillars to symbolize unity and a crystal ball
placed at the center through which the sunlight is captured through
three mirrors places at the top of the structure which directs the
sunlight. No other form of light is present.
A certain type of material is placed at the interior wall which lets the
sunlight from outside to slightly brighten the interiors.
The whole structure is completely made of concrete.
GOLDEN DISCS ATTACHED
TO THE PORTHOLES
First came out the four pairs of pillars supporting the entire structure.
They are the extensions of four pillars and are joined by ring beam at
1st and 2nd levels. Chamber floor level and at the very top.
The construction crane was required to lift the prefabricated
concrete beams into place each weighing half a ton.
Altogether they form the space-frame which gives matrimandir its
spherical shape and supports its outer shell and inner skin.
The beams were casted in matrimandir workshop and hoisted to
their exact position and secured. The nodes which join 6 beams
together were cast-in-stu using Ferro cement shuttering.
The outer shell consists of ferro cement triangles ( with a hole at the
center to install a porthole ), which were fabricated lifted in place
and then grounded.
A membrane was then applied to the whole surface to waterproof
it, but 10 years later it had to be removed entirely and re-applied
when they found out that it was not adhering to the surface
anymore.
The skeleton of the
Structure with the four
Pillars.
CONTRUCTION OF THE OUTER TRIANGLES
ATTACHING THE GOLDEN DISCS ON THE OUTER SURFACE
INNER SKIN
• From the outside the matrimandir looks like a radiant sun but from
inside the mother wanted it look like a translucent sphere which lets
in a golden pink light.
• To create this a special white fabric (made of fiber glass woven in a
sophisticated manner) has been stretched over 756 triangular
frames (made of aluminium profiles especially extruded for this
purpose).
• Colored 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 colored light is provided by 1320 electronic
modules (each one will power 4 low consumption light emitting
diodes of the three fundamental colours whose respective intensity
can be adjusted).
INNER SKIN
INNER CHAMBER
• It has a 12m radius. The floor is covered with a white woolen carpet.
• The wall is 8.65m high. It has 12 facets which represent the 12 months
of the year and are clad with white marble.
• Its white ceiling also has 12 facets each one resting on one of the
wall’s facets at 30 degrees angle upwards towards the center.
• Two double doors of thick white marble slabs. When closed the
doors are more or less invisible.
• It has 12 large steel cylindrical columns of 60cm diameter covered
with white lacquer which stand halfway between the center of the
room and each one of its 12 corners.
INNER CHAMBER
Each of the 12 petals surrounding the matrimandir has a meditation
chamber inside.
At the bottom of the matrimandir they have provided an artificial
lotus pond. Which can also be used as a meditation space with the
natural sounds of water flowing, wind etc. this is also made of white
marble with a crystal in the middle symbolizing the lotus.
LIGHT AND VENTILATION
It had no windows and is fully air-conditioned. This is done to attain
complete silence inside the chamber.
The only light is that comes from a vertical beam of light which is
slightly golden.
This is normally the ray of the sun which is reflected down into the
chamber by a heliostat which computerized tracking system keeps
it precise.
Electrical spot lights create a similar effect at night and on cloudy
days.
