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Lotus Temple, Delhi is also known as Baha’i house of worship. It looks like a lotus flower from the outside. Lotus Temple is one of the prominent attractions of Delhi.

The Lotus Temple located in Delhi, India also called a Baháʼí House of Worship that was devoted in December 1986. Notable for its flowerlike shape, it has come a prominent magnet in the megacity. Like all Houses of Worship, the Lotus Temple is hospitable all, anyhow of faith or the other qualification.

This architectural design is the recipient of many awards. The Lotus Temple looks very elegant and mesmerizing specially during the night. However, this building doesn’t belong to any specific religion. People of all the religions and community visit this place. People usually sit peacefully in the hall inside the Lotus temple and pray to the God. Hall of the temple signifies the peace and silence. 

Quick Detail

Where is Lotus temple situated?

Lotus temple is located in East of Kailash near to the Kalkaji and Nehru place metro station. Both the metro stations are at a distance of approximately 1.2 km from the Lotus temple. Lotus Temple is well connected to the public transport. Kalkaji bus stop is near to the temple where the DTC buses arrive from all over the parts of Delhi.

Features of Lotus Temple

• The structure consists of 27 free- standing marble- sheathe”petals” arranged in clusters of three to make nine sides.
• Lotus temple has nine doors opening onto a central hall with a height of slightly over 34 measures with a capacity of 2500 people at a time.
• The Lotus Temple has won multitudinous architectural awards and has been featured in numerous review and magazine papers.
• A 2001 CNN report pertained to it as the most visited structure in the world.

Though construction of the Lotus temple completed on 13th November 1986 but opened on 24 Dec 1986. The architect and structural engineers Fariborz Sahba, Flint and Neill designed and constructed this building.

Inside Lotus Temple

Lotus temple is the nine sided circular building without any picture or statue inside it. The Baha’i house of worship that is Lotus Temple has the design of the lotus flower. It has 27 free standing marble clad petals arranged in cluster of three forming nine sides. All the nine sides of the temple have nine doors. And all the doors together open into a huge hall. The surface of the temple is made of white marble from Penteli Mountain in Greece. It is the same marble used in the construction of many ancient monuments including other Baha’i buildings. Ponds and the gardens which are covering 26 acres of land are surrounding the temple.

Lotus temple in Baháʼí Book

All Baháʼí Houses of Worship, including the Lotus Temple, share certain architectural rudiments, some of which are specified by Baháʼí Book.ʻAbdu’l-Bahá, the son of the author of the religion, has mentioned that an essential architectural character of a House of Worship is a nine-sided indirect shape. While all current Baháʼí Houses of Worship have a pate, this isn’t regarded as an essential part of their architecture.

Baháʼí Book also mentions that no filmland, statues or images be displayed within the House of Worship and no balconies or stages be incorporated as an architectural point.

Lotus temple history

The tabernacle is located in the vill of Bahapur in New Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi. The mastermind was an Iranian, Fariborz Sahba who now lives in La Jolla, California, after living sometimes in Canada. He was approached in 1976 to design the Lotus Temple and latterly oversaw its construction.

The structural design was accepted by the UK firm Flint and Neill over the course of 18 months, and the construction was done by ECC Construction Group of Larsen & Toubro Limited at a cost of$ 10 million. The major part of the finances demanded to buy this land was bestowed by Ardishír Rustampúr of Hyderabad, Sindh (Pakistan). A portion of the construction budget was saved and used to make a hothouse to study indigenous shops and flowers that would be applicable for use on the point.
Of the tabernacle’s total electricity use of 500 kilowatts (kW), 120 kW is handed by solar power generated by solar panels on the structure. This saves the tabernacle (1.2 lakh) rupees per month. It’s the first tabernacle in Delhi to use solar power.

Major attractions

• A 20 minutes short film runs everyday explaining the religion of the temple.
• There are prayer timings of 5 minutes and each prayer describes different religion.
• One corner of the Lotus Temple has a gallery and 3 auditoriums explaining the Baha’i history and principles with lot of photographs and texts.

Reward

• 1987: The mastermind of the Baháʼí House of Worship, Fariborz Sahba, was presented the award for excellence in religious art and armature by the UK- grounded Institution of Structural Engineers for producing a structure “so emulating the beauty of a flower and so striking in its visual impact”.

• 1987: The Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art and Architecture, Affiliate of the American Institute of Engineers, 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.

• 1988: The Illuminating Engineering Society of North America conferred the Paul Waterbury Outdoor Lighting Design Award-Special Citation for Exterior Lighting.

• 1989: The Temple entered an award from the Maharashtra-India Chapter of the American Concrete Institute for” excellence in a concrete structure”.

• 1994: Edition of Encyclopædia Britannica, in its”Architecture” section gives recognition to the Temple as an outstanding achievement of the time.

• 2000: Architectural Society of China as one of 100 canonical workshop of the 20th century in the lately published”World Architecture 1900-2000 A Critical Mosaic, Volume Eight, South Asia”.

• 2000: GlobArt Academy, grounded in Vienna, Austria, presented its”GlobArt Academy 2000″ award to the mastermind of the Lotus Temple, Fariborz Sahba, for “the magnitude of the service of (this) Taj Mahal of the 20th century in promoting the concinnity and harmony of people of all nations”.

Detain

In 2006, some former workers of the Lotus Temple made a complaint to the police that the trustees of the tabernacle had been involved in colorful crimes including espionage, religious conversion and producing false passports. The trial judge directed the police to arrest nine specific trustees, but the Delhi High Court latterly stayed the apprehensions.

Most visits

• The Lotus temple is the most visited building in the world, according to CNN reporter Manpreet Brar.
• It is the most visited building in India, surpassing even the Taj Mahal with some 4.5 million visitors a year, according to a 2003 article in OneCountry, a publication of the U.S. Baháʼí community.
• Lotus temple is the most visited religious building in the world, according to Guinness World Records, 2001.

Books

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

Television

By 2003, the tabernacle had been featured in TV programmes in India, Russia, and China.

Nearest metro station to Lotus temple

Lotus temple is situated near Okhla NSIC and Kalkaji Mandir metro station which is just 500 meters away.

Nearby locations

• Masjid Zakir Bagh:  Distance: 1.9 km
• Aastha Kunj Park:  Distance: 3.2 km
• Shri kalkaji Temple: Distance: 400m