History, Importance, Timings, Architecture, Interesting Facts and Travel Guide of Matrimandir, Auroville, Tamil Nadu & Pondicherry, India
Matrimandir is Sanskrit word which means Temple of the Mother is located in heart of experimental town of Auroville in Viluppuram district of Tamil Nadu and some parts in Puducherry. It is just at just 11 km from Pondicherry. Auroville - universal city which was founded by the Mirra Alfassa – well known as Mother of Sri Aurobindo Ashram and collaborator of Sri Aurobindo and it was designed by the architect Roger Anger in 1968. Auroville is the place where human belongs to any religion or any country can live peacefully and do the practice of Integral Yoga. The main motive behind the concept was based on Sri Aurobindo’s teachings, the concept of the ‘Mother’, help human being to move ahead of its current life, spiritual and supramental consciousness, eternal truth, reality in the life, mind and body and principle of Life’.
Matrimandir is a place for silent concentration for peace of mind. Matrimandir means the temple of the mother which signifies for practitioners of Integral Yoga, in the centre of Auroville established by the mother of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. The Matrimandir is known to be as the soul of the city and large open area known as Peace. 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 Dome is completely covered by Golden discs and it reflects the sunlight, which gives the structure its characteristic radiance. The four pillars support the structure of Matrimandir, these four pillars solely symbolizes the four aspects of mother. South Pole - Maheshwari, North Pole – Mahakali, West Pole – Mahasarasvati, East Pole – Mahalakshmi.
Visits to Matrimandir and the viewing point are free of costs. The Matrimandir Viewing Point is a raised garden area that offers a bird’s eye view of the beautiful Matrimandir and the surrounding nature of it. The place should be visited in a quiet and the mental peace and thus temple emerged as a top destination for meditation and has a footfall of around one million persons every year.
The temple consists of a meditation chamber which is enveloped by a flattened sphere with conical roof, white marble wall, floor covered with white carpet. The chamber is located in the upper hemisphere with its floor positioned at the widest point of the shell. Sunshine entering from the roof is directed to a huge crystal globe which helps mysteriously to focus for meditation. The four key pillars that support the structure of Matrimandir and the Inner Chamber, have been set at the four directions. The Amphitheater fully covered with red Agra stone which is used for late afternoon gatherings of a meditative nature.
The Auroville beach, Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Paradise beach etc. are the nearby attraction from the Matrimandir.
Bookings timing – the passes to visit the Matrimandir Viewing Point can be obtained free of cost from the Auroville’s Visitors centre at the following times: Monday to Saturday – 9:00am to 4:00pm, Sunday – 9:00am to 1:00pm. The bookings of Matrimandir are between 10:00am to 11:00am and 2:00pm to 3:00pm on all days except Tuesdays.
Timings – for concentration in the inner chamber are from 9:35am to 10:05 am. For the concentration in one of the Petal Meditation Rooms are from 9:30am to 10:45am.
How to reach Matrimandir, Auroville, Pondicherry & Tamil Nadu, India
Buses are easily available to Auroville from the nearby cities of the state. The nearest Railway Station is Chennai Central Railway Station and the nearest Airport is Chennai International Airport. Auroville becomes very popular and unique destination across the world thus it is very well connected by road with cities like Chennai, Tiruvannamalai, Bengalaru, Chidambaram, Ooty. Pondicherry and other major cities of India. Villupuram railway station is the nearest station from Auroville at just 32 kms away and is connected to major cities of India. From where you can hire a cab from there or travel in the daily passenger train to reach Auroville. Auroville is 15 km by bus from Pondicherry and 163 km by bus from Chennai. Trains are also available and they take 6 hours. The nearest airports are at Pondicherry, 11 km and Chennai, 142 km.
