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Pyramid Valley International

Curved terracotta pagoda roofs of the cottages framing the spiral-patterned meditation pyramid beyond
Location
Kanakapura Road, Bengaluru
Year
2011
Type
Spiritual

A 28-acre spiritual campus among hillocks and dense foliage.

A 28-acre campus near Harohalli, set in a valley surrounded by hillocks and a rainwater lake at its lowest point. Rock, garden, and water quiet the mind before the architecture begins. At its centre stands the Maitreya Buddha Pyramid, 160 ft square at the base, 102 ft tall, oriented to Giza proportions and seating 5,000 meditators.

The pagoda-style cottages are as simple as the site demands: paired blocks in exposed wire-cut brick, separated by landscaped gardens, with pagoda roofs, deep verandahs, and windows that frame the pyramid. Split-level ventilation and filler-slab roofs keep them comfortable without air conditioning. Completed February 2011.

The semicircular cafeteria clasps the lake it overlooks, reached across a clay jaali bridge. White tensile fabric at the entrance contrasts with exposed brick within. Three levels of dining, open, semi-enclosed, and covered, flow into one another, with one end opening directly onto the pyramid.

A timber footbridge with railings leading straight to the base of the meditation pyramid
A long bamboo footbridge crossing the valley beside a path of grass-set pavers
A brick courtyard with lattice jaali panels, arches and a skylit concrete roof
A covered brick corridor with an arched opening onto the garden
A three-storey exposed-brick building among mature trees
The brick block from below: jaali screens, corbelled sills and an arched entrance behind a stone retaining wall
A double-height living room in exposed brick, jaali clerestory windows beneath a white pitched ceiling
A timber door set in a brick wall, a doorway opening to the kitchen beyond
A seated stone figure on a rock island, mirrored in a still pond
Inside the pyramid, a white spiral stair beneath the skylit apex
A rock garden in bloom, with pink bougainvillea and agave among boulders
The pyramid rising behind a circular gravel labyrinth and curved garden paths
Irregular stone paving before the pagoda-roofed cottages
The cafeteria at dusk, warmly lit beneath a tensile canopy and mature trees
White tensile canopies over the brick cafeteria terraces
Site plan of the Pyramid Valley campus, with legend, landscape and the meditation pyramid

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