Promesse

Auroville

April 3, 1970

Report on the Matrimandir Gardens Auroville Administration

To give some background on how we became connected with the Auroville gardens, and when

and how the Mother gave this vast work, I shall go back to 1968 just after the inauguration of

Auroville. Richard and I were receiving Darshan of the Mother shortly before his return to

America. Mother looked very deeply into him and said, "Don't you want to come for Auroville?

I think you can do something there." Of course Richard's answer was yes.

After his return to America there was a period of intensive inner work and much

correspondence with Mother, the result of which revealed to him his work; that of designing

Mother's gardens for the City of Auroville. Mother told him to prepare for this work by gaining

knowledge and experience, but not to approach the work from a mental standpoint, rather, to

allow the Force to work through him. He ultimately gained much experience in the California

area: studying horticulture, plant combination theory and design at UCLA and designing and

executing the gardens of some of the finest homes in the Southern California area.

Since returning to the Ashram in December of 1969, we again received Darshan of the Mother

on my Birthday, December 18. At that time She spoke to us at length about the gardens and the

way in which She had envisaged them. (Before Richard's return to the Ashram the Mother had

told me that I should work with him in collaboration on this project.) When She spoke to us She

said that She wanted the first design to begin around the banyan tree which is to be the Garden of

Unity. She said "I have chosen all the flowers". (Each garden is represented by a different

Hibiscus flower bearing the inner significance as named by the Mother, and according to the

particular garden.) Mother said, "It must he a thing of great beauty, of such beauty that when

people come they will say "Ah, this is it!" It must be an expression of that consciousness which

we are trying to bring down." Mother said, "One must know how to move from consciousness to

consciousness". In other words, the garden of power must really express power, the garden of

love, love, and so forth. The vibration and essence of each garden must be felt. Since that

darshan Richard has had an inner vision of the Matrimandir and a partial vision of the surrounding

gardens. He wrote to Mother about what he saw and it coincided with what She had conceived.

Now his aspiration is to open more and more to Her guiding Force and less upon preconceived

mental ideas and constructions...and so the gardens of Unity, Love, Existence, Consciousness,

Felicity, Light, Life, Power, Riches, Utility, Progress, Youth , Harmony and Perfection await their

moment of creation. The knowledge that these gardens must be more beautiful than anything that

has ever been done before is overwhelming when brought down to the material level, especially in

light of the conditions on the land at present and with Auroville's precarious financial situation.

However, we know that it will be done and the challenge has never been greater nor the goal

more clearly defined than since we have begun this work. Through all the seeming hardship and

vicissitudes Her Grace and Love are ever with us to sustain and reassure.

On January 17th we brought a new force of work to the Center which had fallen somewhat into

a state of inertia and neglect. We began by weeding, grading and leveling the area around the

rock garden, grading the embankment and filling in the holes created through erosion during the

monsoon. Between that time and the February 28th celebration, we planted approximately

10,000 cuttings of Sri Aurobindo\'92s Compassion (Portulaca) which are thriving beautifully but

must be watered every day, by hand, as there is no other method for supplying water to that area

at the moment.

One evening before a UNESCO official was to arrive, Richard was told that the amphitheater

must be graded and leveled by the next morning at 10:00 am, so he and a crew of workers

worked an all night shift to prepare the area for her visit. The section around the urn was painted

an earth color and the amphitheater was completed. The result was an overnight miracle. For

February 28th, we secured around 60 potted plants which were arranged free\_form around the

Banyan tree for that day. Afterwards they were moved to the nursery which we set up just prior

to the 28th. Also during this time the Geological Survey of India was at the Center for about 3

weeks, boring a well at a site designated by Mother. Each day Richard made about twelve trips,

by tractor, to the well at Arindam, supplying them with barrels of water as they used a type of

pressed mud to bore the well, The project was completed and water was struck at a depth of 500

feet, yielding about 5,000 gallons per hour, We await the installation of electricity at the center as

this pump will be operated by electrical power.

For about five weeks our greatest concentration of energy has gone into the nursery, building

wooden flats, three\_tiered shelves for holding pots and flats, mixing soils and painting with coal

tar to protect against ants, termites and other pests with which we are constantly plagued. We

have planted banana trees, hybrid melons, papaya seeds (65% germination) cherimoya seeds,

tithonia, marigold and an herb garden of mint, basil, chives and dill. We are unable to plant

anything more as the water situation is very bad at present. Our only source of water has been

two small barrels a day brought in by bullock cart. All of the above mentioned, plants, seeds,

seedlings, etc. must be watered daily, by hand, which is a time consuming and strenuous job.

However, we are at the moment digging a pipe line from the well at '"Arindam" to Janet's hut and

on to the nursery. We also conducted an experiment of composting and mulching the mango

trees on the land with straw mulch. Trenches of about l foot depth were dug around the trees and

the mulch filled in. The area was heavily watered and the trees have gone for one month without

water and have not dried out. The trees absorb the existing moisture as is needed. Soil tests were

also conducted by the Government of India and the report revealed that the soil is almost

completely depleted of every nutrient.

At the nursery site, Richard has designed a lovely patio of native red brick surrounded by many

cool, graceful ferns, Comfortable seating has been arranged, as we want people to be able to sit

and relax and absorb the atmosphere and the powers emanating from the plants and flowers and

trees. As is always the situation, our work force in the first few days was good. However, due to

the hard work, many have dropped away and for many weeks the work was done solely by

Richard, myself and Howard Inyama, a Japanese-American boy. Howard has a natural love and

feel for the plants and he has worked steadily throughout, with an inspiring, selfless devotion. He

has never refused to do any of the most strenuous of tasks, and has done on many occasions work

which would normally require two men. Mother gave him blessings to live at the nursery site. He

took the foundation of a hut that belonged to Constance and with some help he has constructed

one of the most beautiful huts in all of Auroville. There is such a feeling of peace , beauty and

simplicity. We have had some bad encounters along the way with village people and their goats,

but for the most part they have joined in the work with a real spontaneous joy. We have tried not

to hire anyone as we would rather do the work ourselves as Mother has requested. At present we

now have with us a Dutch boy named Dick and an extraordinary Tamil boy named Radhakrishna.

He is an extremely refined and intelligent boy and is one of the few who is working there

according to the Auroville system. He receives no pay and works from early morning to late

evening. Richard has taught him to drive the tractor and we are helping him to learn English. He

takes his lunch with us and we teach him what we can. In the beginning we sent a letter to the

Mother asking if we should send names of those wishing to work with us for Her permission. Her

answer was "If people are sincerely wanting to work in harmony and collaboration, there is no

need of asking my permission."

The Mother has granted us a small monthly working fund which, due to our constant

expansion, will not continue to serve us too much longer. There are many, many needs which are

absolutely essential for this work in order to realize Her vision and to bring it into full

manifestation, The following is a list of these needs. A copy has also been sent to Navajata. We

are very grateful for the interest you have shown.

Humbly at Her Feet,

Anne Nunnally.

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