In December 1973, with Goenkaji's assent to proceed with the acquisition of the original seven hectares of land, an agreement was concluded between the owners and Rangil Mehta, the generous donor. To meet the legal requirements for the transfer of ownership however, it took several months to amass the necessary documents, complete the required surveys, and obtain local government permission to change the zoning. Shyam Sundar Taparia and his colleagues managed all this.
In the meantime, M.P. Katdare, a well known Mumbai architect, was engaged for the project, and it took additional time for his firm to prepare the building plans. But before construction could commence, it was imperative to build a proper road to the building site and have a dependable supply of utilities. The Maharashtra State Electricity Board erected poles, strung the wires, and supplied the electricity. And the Igatpuri municipality co-operated by agreeing to extend a waterline from the town system. The water discharged into the old well on the east side of the property below the central plateau and was pumped from there up the hill.
A large team of skilled and unskilled workers was assembled during the 1975 hot season and construction began in earnest on four student dormitories and a single large building containing a kitchen, dining hall, meditation hall and temporary teacher’s residence.
Goenkaji instructed that each day, after the construction workers had gone, we should gather for meditation at an appropriate location on the building site. Evening group sittings outside in such a rough environment meant facing several discomforts—whining mosquitoes, roaming snakes, and dogs and other animals skittering about in the darkness. But we gathered inspiration from participating in the project in this way, and thus continued that routine for the next year or so, until the buildings were completed and we could sit in the new meditation hall.
Guruji wanted the vibrations of Dhamma to penetrate the buildings under construction in order to benefit those who would come to serve and meditate in them. His attention to these obscure, minute details and his skilled advice for attending to them proved immensely beneficial to those who arrived later.
From left: Narayan Dasarwar, Goenkaji, Natwarlal Parikh, Geo Poland.
Narayan Dasarwar
Editor’s Note: This post is the sixth in an ongoing series, A Dhamma Giri Diary, comprised of remembrances that together offer a first-hand account of the initial few years that followed the 1974 purchase of the barren hilltop that became the first Indian Vipassana center, Dhamma Giri, in Igatpuri, Maharashtra. Narayan Dasarwar, who was there from day one, reflects on his association with S.N. Goenka, the principal teacher, the development of the center, and some of the individuals who helped make it possible. The Pariyatti Journal is grateful to Narayan for sharing his personal account of life at Dhamma Giri.