ASHRAM MANDALA

Sister Jude was the first to move to this village of Gollahalli, and to start the work of what came to be known as the Sunanda Trust, which led to the acquisition of about 24 acres of land, on which the Maithri Sagar Ashram was established. The twelve acres of land on which the Ashram buildings came up, were very rocky. The architect Mr. Hulliyappa from Bangalore created the working designs for the buildings, based on sketches drawn by jyoti Sahi, for whom the Ashram space was imagined as a pattern of interlocking triangles.. The first two buildings, one for living in, and the other for a meditation space and inter-faith activities, were constructed on a plan of triangles.

My studies on the structure of temples in India, had led me to the understanding of sacred space as based on the Mandala. The Mandala patterns that we find in India, like in the floor designs that are made in front of Indian homes, relate to concepts that go back to designs used in meditation, as developed in Buddhis, Jaina and Hindu schools of Yoga.