Location - Delhi
Best Time To Visit - August to March
Stealing a moment or two from your hectic shopping day, if you happen to
stand atop any highrise in Delhi's Connaught Place, you would encounter a
great architectural wonder. The outline of a white lotus is silhouetted
against the blue sky - this is none other that the petal perfect Lotus
Temple. It is also famous as Bahai Temple and is referred to as the Taj
Mahal of the twentieth century. The temple is shaped like a half opened
lotus flower and is a specimen of great architectural style.
Lotus Temple in the Making
The Lotus Temple has been designed and managed by a Canadian architect
Fariborz Sahba. It took him around 10 years in this work. With the
assistance of around 800 engineers, technicians, artisans and workers, the
construction of this architectural beauty got commenced. A cost of Rs. 10
crore was involved in the making. Light and water are used as the
fundamental design elements. 10,000 sq m of marble was quarried from the
Mount Pentilekon mines of Greece and sent to Italy, from where each panel
was cut and shaped before being transported to Delhi.
The
architecture
The temple is set amidst the sprawling green lawns. The temple is made of
marble, dolomite, sand and cement. The petals are surrounded by nine pools
that represent the floating leaves of the flower. The interior dome is
spherical and patterned after the innermost portion of the lotus flower. The
interior dome is like a bud consisting of 27 petals. Light enters through
these inner folds and is diffused throughout the hall. The central bud is
held by nine open petals each of which functions as a skylight. External
illumination is arranged to create the impression that the lotus is afloat
on water.
The Lotus Temple is a combination of picture perfect architecture, nature
and culture. It is a temple of a unique kind, where there is no priests,
idols, pictures, sermons or rituals of any kind. It is rather a place for
communication between man and his God. It joins other six Bahai temple
around the world. The other six temple follow the same basic principles of
design.
Religious Importance
The entire structure of the Lotus temple has great religious significance.
The lotus flower represents the manifestation of God. It is said that Lord
Brahma the creator of the universe sprung out from the Lotus flower. In
Buddhist folklore the Boddhisatva Avalokiteswara is represented as born from
a lotus, and is usually depicted as standing or sitting on a lotus pedestal
and holding a lotus bloom in his hand.
Final Word
The temple was inaugurated or opened to pubic on January 1, 1987. The Bahai
temple draws more than 50 millions visitors every year, which makes it one
of the most visited edifices in the world. People overshadow the scorching
heat of Delhi and make it a point to see this great architecture in marble.
People are attracted towards the Bahai temple and towards the Bahai faith at
large, which propagates the oneness of religions and oneness of mankind.
