New Delhi: The Lotus Temple in New Delhi is a Baháʼí House of Worship. Dedicated in December 1986, it is known for its shape which represents a lotus and is one of Delhi’s major attractions, particularly for tourists. The Lotus Temple, like other Bahá’í Houses of Worship, can be accessed by anyone irrespective of caste or creed. Due to its splendid architecture, it has won awards over the years and has been the subject of many newspaper and magazine articles. Here, we will learn about some interesting facts about the Lotus Temple.
10 interesting facts about the Lotus Temple
The Lotus Temple is a Baháʼí House of Worship which means that it is a place of worship of the Baháʼí Faith. The Baháʼí Houses of Worship are also known as Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, which is Arabic for ‘Dawning-place of the remembrance of God’ and Delhi’s Temple is one of the nine Mashriqs in the world.
The Lotus Temple’s architect was Fariborz Sahba. He is an Iranian-American architect who lives between Canada and the United States and was approached in 1976 to design the Temple. Later, he oversaw its construction.
British firm Flint and Neill undertook the structural design for 18 months and ECC Construction Group of Larsen & Toubro Limited constructed the temple.
Over the years, the Lotus Temple has won numerous awards including the Institute of Structural Engineers of the UK in 1987.
The shape of the Temple resembles a lotus which is associated with purity, sacredness, spirituality, and knowledge and has a great significance in India.
The Lotus Temple has nine doors which open onto a central hall 34.3 metres tall that can enable 1,300 people to sit and hold up to 2,500 people.
Its surface is made of white marble from Greece’s Penteli mountain. Interestingly, the marble had been used to construct many ancient monuments including the Parthenon and other Baháʼí buildings.
The Lotus Temple has 27 marble petals which have been clustered into groups of 3 to form its nine sides and into groups of 9 to form three concentric rings.
The Lotus Temple is one of the main tourist attractions in Delhi and is visited by people of various religions. On some holidays, up to 100,000 people visit the place and every year, 2.5 million to 5 million visit the Temple.
The Lotus Temple is the first temple in Delhi to use solar power. It gets electricity from solar power generated by solar panels on the building. According to an article in The Hindu, it reportedly saves the temple Rs 120,000 per month.
The Lotus Temple, like other Bahá’í Houses of Worship, can be accessed by anyone irrespective of caste or creed. Due to its splendid architecture, it has won awards over the years. knowledge Knowledge News, Photos and Videos on General Knowledge
