Lotus Temple

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The Lotus Temple, located in Delhi, India, is a Baháʼí House of Worship that was dedicated in December 1986. Notable for its lotus like shape, it has become a prominent attraction in the city. Like all Bahá’í Houses of Worship, the Lotus Temple is open to all, regardless of religion or any other qualification. The building is composed of 27 free-standing marble-clad "petals" arranged in clusters of three to form nine sides,Template:Sfn with nine doors opening onto a central hall with a height of slightly over 34 metersTemplate:Sfn and a capacity of 1,300 people.Template:Sfn The Lotus Temple has won numerous architectural awardsTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn and has been featured in many newspaper and magazine articles.Template:Sfn

History

The architect of the Lotus Temple was an Iranian, Fariborz Sahba who now lives in La Jolla, California,Template:Sfn after living some years in Canada.Template:Sfn He was approached in 1976 to design the Lotus Temple and later oversaw its construction. The structural design was undertaken by the UK firm Flint and Neill over the course of 18 months,Template:Sfn and the construction was done by ECC Construction Group of Larsen & Toubro LimitedTemplate:SfnTemplate:Dead link at a cost of $10 million.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The major part of the funds needed to buy this land was donated by Ardishír Rustampúr of Hyderabad, Sindh (Pakistan), whose will dictated that his entire life savings would go to this purpose.Template:SfnTemplate:Page needed A portion of the construction budget was saved and used to build a greenhouse to study indigenous plants and flowers that would be appropriate for use on the site.Template:Sfn

Rúhíyyih Khánum laid the foundation stone for the Lotus Temple on 19 October 1977 and dedicated the temple on 24 December 1986.Template:Sfn For the dedication, there was a gathering of 8,000 Baháʼís from 107 countries, including some 4,000 Baháʼís from 22 provinces in India. The temple was opened to the public on 1 January 1987 and more than 10,000 people visited that day.Template:Sfn

Worship

The Baháʼí Faith teaches that a Baháʼí House of Worship should be a space for people of all religions to gather, reflect, and worship.Template:Sfn Anyone may enter the Lotus Temple irrespective of religious background, gender, or other distinctions, as is the case with all Baháʼí Houses of Worship.Template:Sfn The sacred writings of not only the Baháʼí Faith but also other religions can be read and/or chanted, regardless of language;Template:Sfn on the other hand, reading nonscriptural texts is forbidden, as are delivering sermons or lectures, or fundraising. Musical renditions of readings and prayers can be sung by choirs, but no musical instruments can be played inside. There is no set pattern for worship services, and ritualistic ceremonies are not permitted.Template:Sfn

Structure

Template:Stack All Baháʼí Houses of Worship, including the Lotus Temple, share certain architectural elements, some of which are specified by Baháʼí scripture. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, the son of the founder of the religion, wrote that Baháʼí Houses of Worship must be nine-sided and circular.Template:Sfn While all current Baháʼí Houses of Worship have a dome, this is not regarded as an essential part of their architecture.Template:Sfn Baháʼí scripture also states that no pictures, statues or images be displayed within the House of Worship and no pulpits or altars be incorporated as an architectural feature (readers may stand behind simple portable lecture stands).Template:Sfn

Inspired by the lotus flower, the design for the House of Worship in New Delhi is composed of 27 free-standing marble-clad "petals" arranged in clusters of three to form nine sides.Template:Sfn The temple's shape has symbolic and inter-religious significance because the lotus is often associated with purity, sacredness, spirituality and knowledge. It has a spiritual significance in India.Template:Sfn The nine doors of the Lotus Temple open onto a central hall 34.3 meters tallTemplate:Sfn that can seat 1,300 peopleTemplate:Sfn and hold up to 2,500 in all.Template:Sfn The temple has a diameter of 70 m.Template:Sfn The surface of the House of Worship is made of white marble from Penteli mountain in Greece, the same marble used in the construction of many ancient monuments (including the ParthenonTemplate:Sfn) and other Baháʼí buildings.Template:Sfn Along with its nine surrounding ponds and gardens, the Lotus Temple property comprises 26 acres (105,000 m2; 10.5 ha).Template:Sfn An educational centre beside the temple was established in 2017.Template:Sfn

The Lotus Temple is situated near Okhla NSIC and Kalkaji Mandir metro station is just 500 meters away.Template:Citation needed It is in the village of Bahapur in New Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi, near Nehru Place.Template:Sfn

Of the temple's total electricity use of 500 kilowatts (kW), 120 kW is provided by solar power generated by solar panels on the building.Template:Sfn This saves the temple ₹120,000 per month.Template:Sfn It is the first temple in Delhi to use solar power.Template:Sfn

As is the case with other stone monuments such as the Taj Mahal, the Lotus Temple is becoming discoloured due to air pollution in India. Specifically, the white marble is turning grey and yellow due to pollution from vehicles and manufacturing in the city, among other sources.Template:Sfn

Visitors

By late 2001, The Lotus Temple had attracted more than 70 million visitors, according to Manpreet Brar, a CNN reporter.Template:Sfn The permanent delegation of India to UNESCO stated that the Lotus Temple had received over 100 million visitors by April 2014.Template:Sfn

The Lotus Temple has become a major attraction for people of various religions, with up to 100,000 visitors on some holidays.Template:Sfn Estimates for the number of visitors annually range from 2.5 million to 5 million.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn Brar stated in 2001 that it was the "most visited building in the world".Template:Sfn The Lotus Temple is often listed as one of Delhi's main tourist attractions.Template:Sfn

Distinctions

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File:Lovely Lotus temple.jpg
One of the nine ponds surrounding the Lotus Temple

The Temple has received a wide range of attention in professional architectural, fine art, religious, governmental, and other venues.

Awards

  • 1987, the architect of the Baháʼí House of Worship, Fariborz Sahba, was presented the award for excellence in religious art and architecture by the UK-based Institution of Structural Engineers for producing a building "so emulating the beauty of a flower and so striking in its visual impact".Template:Sfn
  • 1987, the Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art and Architecture, Affiliate of the American Institute of Architects, Washington, D.C., gave their First Honour award for "Excellence in Religious Art and Architecture" 1987 to Fariborz Sahba for the design of the Baháʼí House of Worship near New Delhi.Template:Sfn
  • 1988, the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America conferred the Paul Waterbury Special Citation for Outdoor Lighting for the "Taj Mahal of the Twentieth Century"Template:Sfn
  • 1989, the Temple received an award from the Maharashtra-India Chapter of the American Concrete Institute for "excellence in a concrete structure".Template:Sfn
  • 1994 edition of Encyclopædia Britannica, in its "Architecture" section gives recognition to the Temple as an outstanding achievement of the time.Template:Sfn
  • 2000, Architectural Society of China as one of 100 canonical works of the 20th centuryTemplate:Sfn in "World Architecture 1900-2000: A Critical Mosaic, Volume Eight, South Asia".Template:Sfn
  • 2000, GlobArt Academy, based in Vienna, Austria, presented its "GlobArt Academy 2000" award to the architect of the Lotus Temple, Fariborz Sahba, for "the magnitude of the service of [this] Taj Mahal of the 20th century in promoting the unity and harmony of people of all nations, religions and social strata, to an extent unsurpassed by any other architectural monument worldwide."Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Publications

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Articles

By 2003, the Baháʼí World Centre Library had archived more than 500 publications which carried information on the Lotus Temple in the form of articles, interviews with the architect and write-ups extolling the structure.Template:Sfn The following are major examples of publications featuring articles on the temple listed chronologically, and excerpted quotations:

Books

  • Forever in Bloom: The Lotus of Bahapur, photographs by Raghu Rai and text by Roger White, Time Books International, 1992Template:Sfn
  • The Dawning Place of the Remembrance of God, Thomas Press, 2002Template:Sfn

Arrests

In 2006, some former employees of the Lotus Temple made a complaint to the police that the trustees of the temple had been involved in various crimes including spying, religious conversion and producing false passports. The trial judge directed the police to arrest nine specific trustees, but the Delhi High Court later stayed the arrests.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

See also

Notes

References

Books

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  • Stories about Baháʼí Funds{{#if:Faizi|, Faizi}. Baháʼí Publishing Trust(1993). ISBN 81-85091-76-5
  • Religions of South Asia{{#if:Garlington|, Garlington}. Routledge(2006). ISBN 0415223903
  • Handbook of New Religions and Cultural Production{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Brill(2012). ISBN 978-90-04-22187-1
  • The World of the Bahá’í Faith{{#if:Pearson|, Pearson}. Routledge(2022). ISBN 978-1-138-36772-2
  • Citizens of the World: A History and Sociology of the Bahaʹis from a Globalisation Perspective{{#if:Warburg|, Warburg}. Brill(2006). ISBN 978-90-04-14373-9

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Encyclopedias

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News media

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Other

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Further reading

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