According to MIU, the Golden Domes were the first structures built specifically for group meditation and the practice of the TM-Sidhi program.

[10] The domes have been variously described by journalists as looking like: "a huge rotunda",[11] "flying saucers",[12] "extraterrestrial-looking",[13] "gilded breasts",[14][15] "Mallomar-cookie-shaped",[16] "giant mushrooms",[17] and "sprawling structures".

[18] 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 meditation in Fairfield[19][20] and ordered the construction of two domes for this purpose.

[21] University president, Bevan Morris, oversaw the effort and according to MIU, the domes were the first structures built for the purpose of group practice of the Maharishi's TM-Sidhi program (capacity 3,000).

[32][33] An expanded vestibule on the east side includes a large room for coats and shoes and the performance of Yoga positions or asanas.