St. Gregorios College ART (Association of Retired Teachers) members visited Lotus Temple,New Delhi on 2nd may,2014. The Lotus Temple, located in New Delhi, India, is a House of Worship completed in 1986. Notable for its flowerlike shape, it serves
as the Mother Temple of the Indian subcontinent and has become a prominent
attraction in the city. The Lotus Temple has won numerous architectural awards
and been featured in hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles.All Bahá'í
Houses of Worship, including the Lotus Temple, share certain architectural
elements, some of which are specified by Bahá'í scripture. `Abdu'l-Bahá, the
son of the founder of the religion, stipulated that an essential architectural
character of a House of Worship is a nine-sided circular shape. While all
current Bahá'í Houses of Worship have a dome, this is not regarded as an
essential part of their architecture.[4] Bahá'í 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).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. The nine doors of the Lotus Temple open onto a central hall slightly
more than 40 meters tall[6] that is capable of holding up to 2,500 people. The
surface of the House of Worship is made of white marble from Penteli mountain
in Greece, the very same from which many ancient monuments and other Bahá'í
Houses of Worship are built.[7] Along with its nine surrounding ponds and the
gardens, the Lotus Temple property comprises 26 acres (105,000 m²; 10.5 ha).
The site is in the village of Bahapur, in the National
Capital Territory of Delhi. The architect was an Iranian, who now lives in
Canada, named Fariborz Sahba. He was approached in 1976 to design it and later
oversaw its construction. The structural design was undertaken by the UK firm
Flint and Neill. The major part of the funds needed to buy this land was
donated by Ardishír Rustampúr of Hyderabad, Sindh, who gave his entire life
savings for this purpose in 1953.[8] A portion of 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.
BRIEF HISTORY OF LOTUS
TEMPLE
First let me tell you that it is also known as bahai temple. Before we start the history I must want to tell one thing
about lotus temple that it is most visited monuments in India. Construction of
bahai temple is
completed in year of 1986. You must be interested why it is named lotus temple.
Many of people are saying that this temple looks like a lotus in shape and
because of it is known as lotus temple. But this is half-truth. Lotus is a
symbol of love and purity. It gives the message of immortality. And because of
this bahai temple is designed like a lotus flower and
it is known as lotus temple.
| As I told you above that this temple is famous in
world for its architecture. This
awesome architecture is built by Persian architect Fariborz Sahba from Canada. So it is the brief history of bahai
temple. Now let us talk about great architecture of this temple. ARCHITECTURE OF LOTUS TEMPLE Marble, cement, dolomite, and send were used in construction of lotus temple. If you look this temple from top view it looks like half opened lotus temple. Construction of this architecture takes 10 years to complete. There are 800 people who have worked in construction of this temple. This team includes engineers, technicians, and workers. Outside of this temple there are nine reflecting pools. This temple has nine doors. White marble is used in construction of this temple and because of this beauty of temple is increased. Height of lotus temple is 40 meters. |
Prof. John
Kurakar
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