At the very centre of Auroville one finds the 'soul of the city', the Matrimandir, situated in a large open area called 'Peace', from where the township radiates outwards. The atmosphere is quiet and charged, and the area beautiful, even though work continues in the Gardens.
The Matrimandir will be the soul of Auroville.
The sooner the soul is there, the better it will be
for everybody and especially for the Aurovilians.
~The Mother
A place...for trying to find one's consciousness.
It is like the Force, the central Force of Auroville, the cohesive Force of Auroville.
~The Mother
The Matrimandir
The Matrimandir can be viewed as a large golden sphere which seems to be emerging out of the earth, symbolising the birth of a new consciousness. Since the past 50 years, the Matrimandir's slow and steady progress towards completion has been followed by many.
While walking through the lovely green Matrimandir Gardens (divided into 12 individually named parks such as "Harmony", "Bliss", Perfection", Progress", "Consciousness", etc., each with their variety of flowers, shrubs and trees), one's attention is greatly drawn to this important and powerful feature at the heart of the city which was seen by the Mother as the "symbol of the Divine's answer to man's aspiration for perfection" and as "the central cohesive force" for the growth of Auroville.