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It is therefore extremely important that all helps are contributed unstintingly to
make this opportunity the means of a realisation that will have lasting validity.
The Inner Gardens are enclosed in an area of oval shape, 360 metres at its longest
axis East to West and 290 metres at its shorter axis North to South, which is to be
circumscribed by a continuous channel of water dug in a V section of 5 to 6 metres
deep and 10 to 12 metres wide, overflowing into several ponds and percolation pits.
We plan to make maximal use of sprinklers monitored by an automated system,
combined with a drip-irrigation system for deep-rooting plants and shrubs. We find
this solution to be optimal in terms of waste control, provided all its parts are
sturdy, easy to maintain and the central monitoring is fairly safe and simple to
operate.
Around the oval area of the Inner Gardens, with its encircling water-channel, are
the Outer Gardens.
Their outward limit is fixed at a radius of 290 metres from a centre equidistant to
the Matrimandir, the Amphitheatre and the Banyan Tree.
These Outer Gardens, or Park, will act as a buffer and a transitional space between
the city and the area of silence around the Matrimandir and protect the more
elaborate Inner Gardens with a denser belt of high trees.
About a quarter of the area has already been landscaped and planted over the last
20 years, experimenting with hundreds of species.
The intent here is to manifest a representation as wide as possible of the earth’
trees, letting them establish their symbiosis by choosing carefully the position of
each in relation to the others, according to their typical shapes, natural needs and
behaviour, density of foliage, the colour of their blooms, their seasonal rhythms,
etc.
An important role will be given to all the varieties of palm trees, along with many
different creepers, a large range of which we have already introduced and
developed in the Matrimandir Nursery, as well as a large number of acclimated
orchids.”
…
(Note: this text was followed by a detailed cost and time estimate, running several
pages.
We had included a section regarding H.K’s proposal of a huge lake as the main
feature of a very large-scale project aiming at, basically, turning the higher aquifer
below Auroville as Auroville’s water-storage. We had not had the time as yet to
really examine that proposal for its own merits, but we had serious doubts
regarding its soundness, not to mention the impacts such a massive interference
would have on the actual physical reality of the underground. And of course we
could see how this project would allow Roger A to be rid of the entire Park area and
gain unobstructed view of the Matrimandir from the city, while claiming that this
would have to be done for the sake of Auroville’s very survival, not for the sake of
his design!)
***