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Golden Domes
Photograph of a golden dome and a white tower.
The Bagambhrini Golden Dome of Pure Knowledge and the Maharishi Tower of Invincibility
A map showing the location of the Golden Domes in southeastern Iowa, US.
A map showing the location of the Golden Domes in southeastern Iowa, US.
Location in southeastern Iowa, US
Alternative namesThe Maharishi Patanjali and the Bagambhrini Golden Domes of Pure Knowledge
General information
TypeDomes
Town or cityFairfield, Iowa
Construction started1979
Completed1981
CostUS$700,000[1]
OwnerMaharishi University of Management
Height35 ft (11 m)[2]
Dimensions
Diameter200 ft (61 m)
Technical details
Floor area25,000 sq ft (2,300 m2)
Design and construction
Architect(s)H.O. Clark[3]

The twin Golden Domes, also called the Maharishi Golden Domes, are buildings used for the group practice of the TM-Sidhi program (Yogic Flying). Built by followers of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on the Maharishi University of Management (MUM) campus in Fairfield, Iowa, the domes are important centers of the Transcendental Meditation movement and are also local landmarks. The dome for men is formally known as the "Maharishi Patanjali Golden Dome of Pure Knowledge" and the dome for ladies is the "Bagambhrini Golden Dome of Pure Knowledge", but they are commonly called the "Men's Dome" and the "Ladies' Dome". Buildings used for Yogic Flying, such as the Golden Domes, are known generically as "flying halls". The Golden Domes were the first structures built specifically for Yogic Flying, and were completed in 1980 and 1981, respectively.

According to proponents, group practice of the TM-Sidhi program, such as done in the domes, creates the Maharishi Effect, which they describe as a coherence-producing field the effects of which depend on the number of people practicing in one place. The domes have a capacity of 3,000 practitioners. The Transcendental Meditation movement has conducted a number of assemblies bringing together thousands of Yogic Flyers in the hope of positively influencing the United States and the world. The largest assembly brought together 7,000 Yogic Flyers for several weeks starting in December 1983.

Background

Main article: TM-Sidhi program

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi introduced the TM-Sidhi program as an advanced form of meditation in 1975. It has been described as a natural extension of the Transcendental Meditation technique (TM),[4] based on the teachings of Patanjali, in which the practice of Samyama leads to the achievement of Siddhis.[5] The most important Siddhi in the TM-Sidhi program is Yogic Flying, a mental-physical exercise of hopping while cross-legged. Practitioners are called "Sidhas" or "Yogic Flyers". The TM-Sidhi program is said to accelerate the benefits gained from the TM technique by training the mind to think from the level of what is called Transcendental Consciousness. The official TM website says that "research has shown a dramatic and immediate reduction in societal stress, crime, violence, and conflict—and an increase in coherence, positivity, and peace in society as a whole" when the TM-Sidhi program is practiced in groups.[6] This is termed the "Maharishi Effect" or "super radiance", and is believed by proponents to occur when the group size exceeds the square root of one percent of the population of an area. Nations with sufficient Yogic Flyers are said by practitioners to have achieved invincibility.[7] While empirical studies supporting these assertions have been published in peer-reviewed academic journals,[8] the assertions have been disputed by most of those in the scientific and skeptic community who have written about them. Skeptics have called Yogic Flying or its associated theories and technologies a "pseudoscience".[9][10]

Building

Construction

A photograph of the Maharishi holding flowers and surrounded by people wearing coats.
The Maharishi in Fairfield in December 1979 for the inauguration of the Maharishi Patanjali Golden Dome

Maharishi International University (later Maharishi University of Management) opened in Santa Barbara in 1973 and moved to the empty campus of bankrupted Parsons College in Fairfield, Iowa, in 1974. In the summer of 1979, during a "World Peace Assembly" in Amherst, Massachusetts, the Maharishi invited TM and TM-Sidhi practitioners to come together for group practice in Fairfield.[11] Eight hundred went immediately, and thousands more followed.[12] The Maharishi ordered the construction of two huge domes for their use.[13] Bevan Morris, who had just been named president and chairman of MIU at age 33, oversaw the effort. The domes were the first structures built for the purpose of group practice of the Maharishi's program.[14] Prior to construction of the domes, Yogic Flying was performed in the university's field house or in other campus facilities.[15]

Construction of the first dome began in the fall of 1979. The Maharishi inaugurated it that December, appearing in the still-roofless building in his customary dhoti and light shawl, bare-headed, while his audience wore heavy coats. Ravi Shankar (later known as "Sri Sri Ravi Shankar") and two other Indian pandits sat near an electric heater and chanted Vedic hymns during the inaugural ceremony.[16] The Men's Dome was completed early in 1980.

The Ladies' Dome, completed in 1981,[12] was built on the site of a former baseball field.[17][18] The genders are separated to avoid distraction.[19] In 1983, the Maharishi named them "The Maharishi Patanjali and the Bagambhrini Golden Domes of Pure Knowledge."[20]

Location and appearance

Oblique aerial photo showing the domes.
Aerial photograph showing the Golden Domes, the Men's (left) to the south and the Ladies' (right) to the north.

The Golden Domes are located on Golden Dome Way near Highway 1 (North 4th Street), one mile (1.6 km) north of Fairfield and two miles (3.2 km) south of Maharishi Vedic City.[21] The domes are built on hills beside the location of the former Blum Stadium, a football stadium built by Parsons College hurriedly in 1966. Between 1994 and 2005, the bleachers and a press box were removed, and housing was built on one edge of the former stadium.

The domes dominate the MUM campus.[22] They are each 20,000–25,000 square feet (1,900–2,300 m2) in area, about 150–200 feet (46–61 m) in diameter, and about 35 feet (11 m) high.[1][2][23][24]

The roofs of the domes are covered with spray polyurethane foam. The top coat, which gives the domes their characteristic metallic gold color, was developed specially for the university and is called "Maharishi gold".[25] Flagpoles outside the domes have flown the flags of the United States and of the Global Country of World Peace,[26] a border-less nation declared by the Maharishi in 2000. Between the two domes is the 45-foot (14 m) marble-paneled Maharishi Tower of Invincibility, completed in 2007.[27][28]

The domes are tourist attractions[29] mentioned in a number of travel guides[30] and listed as a "don't miss" landmark in Fairfield.[31] A local bank offered checks printed with an image of the Maharishi Patanjali Golden Dome.[32] Writers have described one or both domes as: "a huge rotunda",[33] "flying saucers",[34] "extraterrestrial-looking",[19] "gilded breasts",[35][36] "Mallomar-cookie-shaped golden domes",[37] "giant mushrooms in a field of green grass",[38] and "sprawling structures sitting astride gently rolling hills".[39]

Alterations and renovations

A photograph of a golden, symmetrical sculpture.
A kalash atop one of the domes, added in 1997.

In the late 1990s,[29] the Maharishi developed Maharishi Sthapatya Veda (MSV), his version of an ancient Indian architectural theory called Vastu Shastra which is said to bring good fortune. It was then realized that the west-facing entries and round shape of the domes were inauspicious.[40]

The buildings were rectified by shifting their front doors to face east. A small dome which had been part of the western entrance to the Men's Dome was removed,[41] and the new entrance was completed in 2001.[42] A vestibule on the east side was added, which includes a large room for shoes and a space for performing asanas (Yoga positions).[43] The eastern end of the Men's Dome was also squared-off, to more closely align it with MSV principles.[41][44] The western side is expected to receive a similar treatment once funds are raised.[45] The entry to the Ladies' Dome was moved in 2005 and bathrooms were added, replacing a temporary trailer which had been used for the purpose.[46][47]

Maharishi Sthapatya Veda says that buildings should be located on level ground, so the surrounding areas and berms have been flattened with earth-moving equipment.[48][49] Auspicious Vastu fences were built around each dome.[47] In accordance with MSV, the domes were topped by kalashes, auspicious "sculpted urns".[50] The sculptures, which are 7.5 ft (2.9 m) tall and 5 ft (1.5 m) wide, were cast in acrylic resin by MUM art professor Dale Divoky in 1997.[51]

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b UPI 1980.
  2. ^ a b AP 1979.
  3. ^ Trumpy 1984.
  4. ^ Shear 2006.
  5. ^ Orme-Johnson 1992.
  6. ^ TM.org 2010.
  7. ^ Feather 2007.
  8. ^ Regal 2009.
  9. ^ Sagan 1997.
  10. ^ Shermer 2002, p. 141.
  11. ^ Gilpin 2006, p. 83.
  12. ^ a b Bogumil 2006.
  13. ^ Canon 1999.
  14. ^ MUMDVD 2011.
  15. ^ Derise 2006.
  16. ^ Fischman 2010, p. 32.
  17. ^ Yearbook 1981.
  18. ^ 41°01′23″N 91°57′52″W / 41.022966°N 91.964421°W / 41.022966; -91.964421 (Bagambhrini Golden Dome of Pure Knowledge)
  19. ^ a b Gibson 1990.
  20. ^ Yearbook 1983, p. 77.
  21. ^ TheStatesman 2002.
  22. ^ Hutchinson 2003.
  23. ^ Breyfogle 1985.
  24. ^ Gaines 1984.
  25. ^ Chizik 2008.
  26. ^ Flags 2011.
  27. ^ Report 2007.
  28. ^ 41°01′21″N 91°57′54″W / 41.022394°N 91.965023°W / 41.022394; -91.965023 (Maharishi Tower of Invincibility, Fairfield, Iowa)
  29. ^ a b Lowe 2010.
  30. ^ Guidebooks 2011.
  31. ^ Byczynski 2006.
  32. ^ Review 2003b.
  33. ^ NPR 2004.
  34. ^ Starr 1989.
  35. ^ Lee 2004.
  36. ^ Knopp 1998, p. 173.
  37. ^ Klineman 2003.
  38. ^ D'Antonio 1992, p. 244.
  39. ^ Crawford 1991.
  40. ^ Gilpin 2006, p. 86.
  41. ^ a b Review 2000.
  42. ^ Report 2001.
  43. ^ Review 2001b.
  44. ^ Karpen 2001.
  45. ^ Review 2001c.
  46. ^ GDQuarterly 2005.
  47. ^ a b Sheffield 1999.
  48. ^ Karpen 1998b.
  49. ^ Review 2005.
  50. ^ Hesman 2005.
  51. ^ Review 1997.

References

Signed

Unsigned

Guidebooks

  • Erickson, Lori; Stuhr, Tracy (2010). Off the Beaten Path Iowa: A Guide to Unique Places. Globe Pequot. ISBN 9780762750429.
  • Heim, Michael (2007). Exploring Iowa Highways: Trip Trivia. Exploring America's Highway. ISBN 9780974435855.
  • Campbell, Jeff (2008). USA. Lonely Planet. ISBN 9781741046755.

Graduation

Flags

Other resources

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