Peace area



		Peace area

	A - Matrimandir B - Banyan tree and 'Garden of Unity C - Urn - Amphitheatre D - Meditation rooms E - Small petals F - Ring of the twelve Inner Gardens G - Rose Garden H - Water channel around oval path I - Park
		The Peace area in which the structure is situated is characterised by three main features: the Matrimandir itself with its twelve gardens, twelve petals and future lakes, the Amphitheatre and the Banyan Tree. The area is seen as a whole and work in the different sections proceeds simultaneously. The wide open, silent space is meant to embody the true and inner peace without which no real progress, on whatever level, can be made. "I should like this whole place to be called 'PEACE' and that peace, actual peace should reign there, not only between the occupants but with the whole of Auroville, present and future." The Banyan Tree The Banyan,the actual 'geographical centre of the future city', is a beloved and dignified growing presence which was there long before Auroville. At the time of Auroville's inauguration ceremony, a large copper ring was placed around its trunk with 'Auroville, the City at the service of Truth' engraved in it in both Tamil and French. Presently the heavy ring is only used at certain times of the year. Amphitheatre The Amphitheatre is a red-stoned shallow bowl near to 100 metres wide, with at its centre the marble-clad urn in the shape of a lotus bud, containing soil of the 124 nations which participated in the Auroville inauguration ceremony. It is here that Aurovilians, in special moments, come quietly together to concentrate, while twice a year an early dawnfire flames up here as well. Text in italics are quotations from the Mother.

Peace area

The Banyan Tree

Amphitheatre