4

There is thus no harmony between inner and outer, irrespective of the fact that the architect seems to have maintained the correct measurements for the Shalagrama.
          If the floor diameter is 23m, or thereabouts, as is presently the case in the Auroville Matrimandir, then the Shalagrama cannot have a total width of 36m as advertised. It must be less. A Shalagrama can be constructed on the basis of any radius; but whatever that is, the central circle will determine the proportions of the figure which are 5:4. Width and height will vary accordingly. While this is possible geometrically, the result in the Mother’s temple is that two important harmonies are lost, which we will describe in these Chronicles.            

What was lost
The idols of a Hindu Temple must be fashioned according to set rules. These were laid down centuries ago based on the visions of sages. It is only when those exact proportions are reproduced that the idol is truly infused with a certain energy that is the cosmic essence of that particular deity. If, in the fashioning of the murthi, the sculptor introduces a variation without the inspired drishti, the connection is lost. The idol is then abandoned and certainly never installed in the temple. Thus, accurate proportions are crucial to the function of the idol.
          In earlier times, before the decline, idols were not required for this function, only pure geometry was use. This was the Vedic Age several thousand years ago. The construction, known as vedi, was simply a particular geometric form made of bricks. These structures for the homam were often quite elaborate and the geometry involved was complex. The sacrifice could only be ‘pleasing’ to the Godhead (Agni, for example) if the geometry was executed with meticulous care. Then, and only then, was it elevated to the level of the sacred.
          It is known that the Mother did not want photographs of herself and Sri Aurobindo in the temple, particularly in the Inner Chamber, ‘only the symbols’, - i.e., only the geometry. This injunction was the signal that she was resuscitating a very ancient Vedic tradition. It is similar to the difference between Carnatic and Hindustani music. The former is like the skeleton of the structure (music); the bare and pure essence; the latter is a step or more removed from the basic structure or pure essence. In certain periods of evolution the vedi is the way; in times when the Knowledge, pure and overt, has to be covered in veils in order to preserve it, then the skeleton/essence structure acquires outer sheaths – like Guha covered in veils.
          Bearing the above in mind, we can analyse the geometry of the Mother’s Vision and reveal how it is sacred only when HER plan in its complete form is the blueprint. There may be geometry in the Shalagrama of the Auroville Matrimandir, but it has not been sanctified by the innermost essence which is provided by the 24m diameter of the Chamber, since that does not exist.
          Within the ‘perfect circle’ of the Shalagrama (below), as the Mother specified, we have inserted the Inner Chamber. The element of crucial importance is the floor diameter of 24m. This is where the walls are set (‘…it is understood the 24m ends at the walls’) and then extend upward to join the occult circle at 8.65m. If not, if, as in the Auroville Matrimandir, the chamber measures 23m, nothing HOLDS. Those points in the temple’s inner spaces do not exist. Yes indeed, Ruud Lohman, everything ‘falls apart’.

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