From harmony of Moved by Love Mandala to tranquility of Gandhi Ashram

It was 7 am in the morning and the journey started with a hot cup of coffee at Parikalp Café opposite to Gandhi Ashram. We were a group of 7 students who were about to leave for a visit to the ashram. While having coffee we met Mr. Madhusudan who is a part of 'moved by love' foundation.

He shared with us the organic farming practices that he was cultivating on a 1000 sq. ft. farmland. He offered us a visit to it, to which we delightedly said yes. We walked through the lane which had beautiful traditional pitched roof houses and we entered the farm which was made on the geometrical pattern like Mandala behind his place.

The Mandala pattern organic farming was first practiced by Ganga ma, in Madhya Pradesh. She was an old woman who had a vision of making all the people in her village independent at growing their own food. She knew that all the villagers had a small part of the land in which they can grow their own food and live a sustainable life. It also helped the villagers save money which they used to spend earlier in buying vegetables and fruits.

In Mandala farming, the combination of fruits and vegetables are grown together in a concentric circle pattern. The first concentric circle had the fruits like banana, papaya, grown into it, and the second circle had the vegetables like ladies finger, brinjal. The creepers were planted in the third circle, which completed the ‘Mandala’ circles. These creepers were supported by a network of metal wires. These metal wires run from the periphery to the center of the Mandala.

These three concentric circles have seven parts radially, as seen in the image above. One can collect the vegetables and fruits starting at one part and pick up the next lot from next part, in a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction. Hence, giving time for the fruits/vegetables to grow and ripen by the harvest time. One can grow 26 different types of vegetables and fruits in this Mandala Farm. 

For the irrigation purpose, the water sprinklers were fixed at the center of the Mandala, which was operated once during the day time. The mulching of soil is done by using a mixture called 'Amrut Jal', which is a mixture of cow urine, cow dung, and water. Generally, the natural one cycle of mulching in a forest takes around 10 years to complete. At the farm, the leaves that fall from the plants are kept as it is which acts as natural fertilizer for them.

To transform this land into a beautiful organic garden was not an easy task. Initially, when the seeds were planted for these vegetables and fruits plants, peacocks used to come and eat the seeds. To get rid of this problem, Mr. Madhusudan had to hang some CDs on the metal wires. These CDs acted as reflectors and kept the peacocks away from the Mandala. Now the trees are fully grown, but the CDs are still kept hanging. It seems like the gardens own beauty element.

The session got over with a demo of making the ‘Amrut Jal’, the mulching mixture followed by a visit at the meditation hall. We sat in a circle and started the interaction session with meditation. We all introduced ourselves and had an amazing time while getting to know each other.

Things to do: Wednesday Meditation

Must try food: A khaman breakfast and a tea at Parikalp