  We present a novel cosmological model in which scalar field matter in a
biaxial Bianchi IX geometry leads to a non-singular `pancaking' solution: the
hypersurface volume goes to zero instantaneously at the `Big Bang', but all
physical quantities, such as curvature invariants and the matter energy density
remain finite, and continue smoothly through the Big Bang. We demonstrate that
there exist geodesics extending through the Big Bang, but that there are also
incomplete geodesics that spiral infinitely around a topologically closed
spatial dimension at the Big Bang, rendering it, at worst, a quasi-regular
singularity. The model is thus reminiscent of the Taub-NUT vacuum solution in
that it has biaxial Bianchi IX geometry and its evolution exhibits a
dimensionality reduction at a quasi-regular singularity; the two models are,
however, rather different, as we will show in a future work. Here we
concentrate on the cosmological implications of our model and show how the
scalar field drives both isotropisation and inflation, thus raising the
question of whether structure on the largest scales was laid down at a time
when the universe was still oblate (as also suggested by Pitrou et al and
Contaldi et al). We also discuss the stability of our model to small
perturbations around biaxiality and draw an analogy with cosmological
perturbations. We conclude by presenting a separate, bouncing solution, which
generalises the known bouncing solution in closed FRW universes.
