Lotus Temple

What is the context and how did that influence the work?

The Lotus Temple is one of the seven Houses of Worship for people of the Baha'i faith located in New Delhi, India. The temple sits on a plot of land of 26 acres in the village of Bahapur. This plot of land was bought by Ardishir Rustampur; he gave all of his life savings to the purpose of building this in 1953.

Fariborz Sabha was the architect of the Lotus Temple. He was approached in 1976 to design the temple. After designing it, he was also in charge of overseeing the construction of it.  The structural design of the temple was made by the United Kingdom firm Flint and Neill.

The temple was completed in November of 1986 but it wasn’t opened until Christmas Ever. Upon seeing the temple and its grounds, many people were awestruck by its beauty. The temple was so beautiful as both a religious site and as a tourist site, that it as won many awards. Some say that it is one of the most visited buildings in the world.

What is the artist communicating and how?

In the Baha'i faith, the number nine is viewed as a very special symbol. For this reason, the Lotus Temple has a great deal of references to this particular number that can be seen throughout the temple itself and its grounds.

All Houses of Worship share a large deal of similarities with one another because they try to adhere to the stipulations set forth by the son of the founder of the religion. He said that all Houses of Worship should have a nine - sided circular shape, which the Lotus Temple does have. Most Houses of Worship also have domes as a part of their structure but since this is not required, the Lotus Temple does not have it.

The temple itself is made up of white marble from the Penteli mountain range in Greece. This is significant because this is the same material that was used to build other Baha'i Houses of Worship.  

The temple is in the form of a lotus with nine sides. Each of the sides of the temple is made up of three 35 - 40 metre tall marble flower petals. From each of the sides of the temple, there are nine entranceways that lead worshippers and visitors alike to a central hall with the capability of seating over 2,500 people. Surrounding the temple are nine ponds, each on a side of the temple.

Fariborz Sahba was the architect for the temple. He is an Iranian who presently resides in Canada. Whether or not he is a member of the Baha'i faith, however, is unclear. He was able to combine important aspects of the faith to create a work of art.

Why do you find it beautiful?

I saw this temple in July of 2013 while my family and I were driving back home after seeing the Taj Mahal. After seeing the beauty of the Taj Mahal, I admit that I wasn’t entirely interested in the Lotus Temple. My mother, however, loved the fact that the temple was in the shape of a lotus flower and got out of the van to take a picture in front of it. After she got back into the car, we drove back home and I didn’t even turn back to look at the temple fading in the distance.

It wasn’t until we got back to America that I became more interested in this unique temple. I tried to find the name of the temple online and it wasn’t that hard because this was the only temple that looked like this. After seeing many photos of it online, I did come to appreciate its beauty, a little late, however.

I loved the clean and simple structure of the temple. Much like the Taj Mahal, the white marble that was used in the construction of the temple added to this and made it stand out even more to me. I appreciated the simplicity of it and its beauty. The temple itself is very large with a height over 40 metres tall and a diameter of 70 metres and demanded the attention of its viewers.

I really regret not getting out of the car to take a picture in front of the temple or go and see the actual temple and its grounds in all its beauty.