Originally written on 23rd September 2018 @ 0700–0730 hrs
It was during my professional break that I decided to visit Auroville. It is considered to be the ‘must visit once’ place who is in the quest of some life changing transformation. So I arrived in this experimental township of India, located in the state of Tamil Nadu. It was the month of September when this part of the country sees the onset of monsoon.
I was almost through a week out of my 2 weeks long visit. By this time I had struggled through a few negative experiences, that led me to doubt my decision to take this stint up altogether. However, the most awaited visit, the visit to Matrimandir was yet to happen! I was determined to do this even if I decided to leave the city earlier. And so, I had booked the visit well in advance.
On 22nd September 2018, Saturday morning, I reached Visitor’s Centre at the scheduled time. I seemed to share the excitement & anticipation of this first time with a lot of other faces I exchanged a glance with. We were made to watch a 10minute long movie on Mother’s vision for Auroville and were transported to Matrimandir entry gate in buses. Right from the gates, we were attended by some 2–3 volunteers, one after the other, who briefed us on don’ts, only don’ts, most important out of which was observing complete silence. Even the interactions between the volunteers & visitors was only suppose to happen via sign language. All these instructions and the way they were imparted, left a sense of seriousness and heaviness about what I am going to experience inside. Well, for me, few smiles or tips on what a fresh visitor should expect ahead, could have been more helpful! None the less, I decluttered my critical mind, while I was still walking in the queue, and that is when the most awaited moment arrived. We arrived at the Golden Globe. I had Imagined this picture numerous times in my anticipation of this visit. As expected; the building, the structure, its grandeur and its sheer visual transported me into some other fantasy world.
We were made to settle down around a pond, this Beautiful White Lotus Pond, with soft looking, marble petals arranged concentrically around a central water body… With water flowing at a constant, just right speed, it was a sight which one can never forget. The calmness this visual commanded was an out of the world feeling. Alongside, I kept wondering about the architects and their thought process while visualizing a place like this. Here, I could feel the impact of the real experience design. The form of the pond, the arrangement of the petals, the speed of the water, all seemed like it was designed to enable people unwind and quiet their minds. We sat their just for 10 minutes and yet everything felt like, got simplified.
After this, we were queued up again and guided through a small doorway into the building. The golden sphere was a softly lit pinkish white shell from inside. The entire space felt surreal. The flooring was partly marble and partly carpeted. Every detail of this space was to just enable the visitor let go of all that was unnecessary, just like the design of these ramps, simple, classy, minimal- a transparent glass. I felt like I was taken back into my architecture college days. I was all curious to know how it is built, what are the materials, how are they joined and finished. The entire shell was cladded with these softly lit tessellated triangles, with a pinkish glow, probably because of the interaction of the fabric like material with sunlight. It was difficult to decide whether I just wish to sit and enjoy this visual or to figure the details of this lovely, simply breathtaking sight! As this was a timed visit, I went with the flow and started climbing the ramp to reach the main chamber. While I was still absorbing the interiors, something unique caught my attention. It was an oil lamp. An elliptical transparent glass jar with a cotton wick. It was nicely set into a square niche where each of the ramps commenced. This was an example of the right balance between function and form.
We walked through this helical climb of about four stories and reached a circular corridor. The volunteers pointed towards a white marble, cubical container set between the seats. When I went closer I saw neatly folded pair of white socks stacked in them. We were supposed to wear them before moving ahead. The socks were all loose for me, and my cotton pants were flapping out. One of the volunteers indicated to tuck it in. I made a helpless face pointing at the loose fitting of the socks. She smiled! Yeah, the first time I saw someone smiling here. So, I happily smiled back. Notably, the whole experience is meant to calm one down but I was a bit tensed, being the first-timer or may be because of the numerous instructions and guidelines one is expected to follow. You find yourself confused most of the time (at least I was) that even a simple thing like free flowing clothing can go against their code of conduct!
Yet again, I shut my ever-chattering mind and moved on.
Finally, we entered the main chamber… ALL WHITE, twelve white pillars, the soft white carpet, white cotton asanas paired with white square cushions laid neatly around the central crystal.
THE CRYSTAL, the one that was receiving the sharp streak of sunlight, tearing through the softly darkened interiors. The crystal was held over a golden stand made of square rods, where each side frame was a formation Sri Aurobindo’s symbol of 8 pointed star.
The silence had a deafening sound here. It was so powerful! I could hear the silence…it just takes you inside, somewhat like one may feel in the vastness, the infinite expanse of nothingness… I felt alive, I could hear my own breath… I tried to concentrate as my usual daily practice sessions, but it was a bit tough. I could not forget the presence of 30 more people around me. People who were making failed efforts to cover their sounds of restless movements, coughs and sneezes. Maybe they too were scared because these sounds were supposed to be controlled, and their bodies were just reacting to it!! Although I was irritated at first, I managed to calm down by reminding myself, we are all humans, this is natural!
After some 20 minutes, soft lights blinked twice which was the humble request to leave the hall. One of the woman, as curious as a child, touched the column, may be to get a feel of the material but was shunned by a volunteer. I turned back and noticed this column. When my gaze followed its height right to the top, I was taken by surprise; it wasn’t meeting the ceiling! And soon I figured they were just detailed to give an illusion of infinity, because one cannot locate their meeting point with the roof… this reminded me of one of Anish Kapoor’s installation called ‘Endless Column’- a red coloured column that appears to tear through the ceiling and extend beyond floor… right then, I heard another volunteer asking another girl who tried touching the wall, to keep away. The walls were cladded with white, square marble tiles, probably something to do with the use of symmetry and balance, something similar to the architecture of religious buildings. This was followed all across the construction/ spatial detailing of the Matrimandir.
I was kind of sad to leave the chamber. But this experience was just too powerful and overwhelming to contain longer, so thankfully, it ended.
The return journey was the same, walking in a queue. There was this group of three middle-aged men, who wanted to walk together, like they were on a school trip. If one is left behind they’ll break the line and wait for their friends to join. Me, again, still absorbed in the spirit of the place, scolded my control freak brain to stop monitoring the world and let go.
We came out in the sun through a narrow, paved pathway and wore our footwears. This was the end of the experience. I felt thankful to have taken this trip. Thanked my parents in my heart, to let me do this, even after being so concerned and unsure about this experimental solo trip of mine in middle of a distant town.
While walking back, we took the path around The Banyan Tree. I asked one of the volunteers (who were mostly standing to stop people from entering the zone) whether I can enter, for which she obviously signaled a NO. By this time, I had no resistance towards their ‘don’ts’ hence without much thought I moved ahead. Towards the end of path, I saw one lady entering the zone and touching the branch. There were stone seats around, so I also went and sat there. It was a neutral feeling. I saw few Aurovillians, hugging one a branch, another one just leaning on another and standing listlessly, few were also sitting in meditative posture. I thought, maybe they come here looking for resolution of their problems or this is just as a gesture of paying their devotion to Mother and her creation. This Banyan tree, holds the importance of being at the center where the foundation stone of this township was laid by Mother.
After spending few minutes in (only verbal) silence, I decided to walk towards the exit. On the way I saw this Frangipani/ Champa tree where its beautiful white flowers where all blooming up and many were also fallen around. I smiled and picked one, thinking, this is what I take back, as a token of this special visit.
Finally, I came out, picked up my bag at the token window and moved to the next counter, where I was attended by one of the volunteers who briefed about the 12 Petals or the Mediation chambers. I decided to go inside one of these 12 chambers on the following day. I was curious to visit one of these, as they were more like personal meditation chambers based on the quality or attribute one wish to enhance, seek blessing for or simply mediate on. Interestingly each chamber has a symbolic colour associated to it, which was also the colour of the light they will be softly lit with.
The following day, I went through the same steps again and visited the chamber, this time more informed and confident! I do intend to visit Matrimandir again, so I could elevate my experience a level beyond, confusion, conflicted thoughts, and fear of unknown. It will be added as Part 2 of this article :)
