Bahai Mashriqul-Adhkar temple of the Bahai Faith better known as Lotus
temple, is a truly astonishing marvel of 20th century architecture. One
of the seven Bahai Houses of Worship in the world, this is also called
as 'Taj Mahal of the 20th Century'. Shaped like the blossoming Lotus flower,
this gleaming white structure is located in Bahapur Hill, 12km southeast
of Connaught Place, New Delhi, the capital of India. Representing
the Bahai faith - an independent world religion, this is an ideal place
of meditation which is open to all other faiths.
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Compared to the facade of the Opera House, Sydney, the Bahai temple is
one of the most visited sites in the world with an average of three and
a half million visitors each year. Set amidst 26 acres of lush landscaped
gardens the Bahai temple looks spectacular just before sunset when the
temple is flood lit.
The temple was designed by Fariborz Sahba, a Canadian
architect of Iranian origin. He took 10 years in designing the structure.
The construction of the building began on 21 April 1980 and was completed
on 21 December 1986 at a cost of Rs 10 million and was opened to
public on January 1, 1987. More than 800 engineers, technicians,
workers and artisans were employed in its construction.
Made of white marble, cement, dolomite and sand, this
temple is 24m from floor to apex and 70m in diameter. The temple structure
has 27 giant white Greek marble petals and nine pools of water and walkways.
The nine walkways symbolizes the nine unifying spiritual paths of the
Bahai faith, which believes in oneness of all religions and mankind, and
the nine pools of water represents the floating green leaves of the lotus
flower which also serves to cool the stark, elegant interior.
The lotus, as seen from outside, has three layers of
nine petals made out of thin concrete shells. The first or innermost layer
called as 'inner leaves' and second layer called as 'outer leaves', of
nine white marble covered petals each pointed inward, houses the inner
central hall and the outer annular hall respectively. The inner leaves
appear to be partly closed. The outer leaf is 15.4m wide and rises up
to 22.5m above the podium and the inner leaves rise to an elevation of
34.3m above the inner podium. At the lowest level each shell has a maximum
width of 14m. It is uniformly 200mm thick. The lowest or outermost layer
of nine petals (entrance leaves) curves outward and forms the nine entrances
all around the outer annular hall. It is 18.2m wide at the entrance and
rises 7.8m above the platform level. The lotus open at the top is covered
by a glass and steel roof which provides natural light inside the auditorium
as well as protection from rain.
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