Meditation space or just a place to add to your travel book??
The Lotus temple or I just want to say a meditation temple with beautiful architecture is a place in New Delhi. Basically, this is a Baha’i House of worship. It is in the line with the teachings of the Baha’i faith believing in the oneness of God, the oneness of Religious and the oneness of mankind.
There is no idol to be worshipped, no picture or any image displayed inside. The most basic idea in the design is that light and water are used as its two fundamental elements and that these two elements alone are responsible for the ornamentation of the House of Worship in place of the thousands of statues and carvings to be in other temples. The Bahá’í House of Worship was opened to public worship in December 1986. The temple is visited by more than 10,000 visitors daily.
….by Ar. Avitesh
#Architecture point of view….
Architecture Style: Expressionist architecture
Architect: Fariborz Sabha
Structural Engineer: Flint & Neill
Site Area: 26 Acre
The temple complex, as seen from the layout, consists of the main house of worship that looks like a white lotus. The temple proper comprises a basement to accommodate the electrical and plumbing components and a lotus-shaped superstructure for assembly. This structure is made up of R.C.C. and cladded with white marble (from Penteli Mountain in Greece).
…. by Ar. Avitesh
All around the lotus are walkways with beautiful curved balustrades, bridges, and stairs, which surround the nine pools representing the floating leaves of the lotus. Apart from serving an obvious aesthetic function, the pools also help ventilate the building.
….by Ar. Avitesh
The reason behind the construction of Lotus temple was – India is losing the spiritual qualities that enabled this temple to be built, according to the architect FARIBURZ SAHBA. The reason behind the significance of the lotus design was – the lotus represents the Manifestation of God, and also the symbol of purity and tenderness. To the Indian taste, the lotus has always been the fairest flower; it has enjoyed unparalleled popularity throughout the length and breadth of India from the earliest times down to the present day, as shown by its predominance in literature and art.
There is also an Additional block which has the reception center, the library and the administrative building and the restrooms.
….by Ar. Avitesh
Model of the temple at the Information Center
The period of construction estimated around six years. The work started on 21 April 1980 and completed on 21 December 1986. The total cost of the building was about ten crore rupees. This includes all furniture, landscaping, etc.
#Traveller’s point of view….
As I describe Lotus temple above, this is a wonderful building. Any trip to Delhi requires a stop at the spectacular Lotus Temple. New Delhi, India is well connected to the world, you can reach here by air, rail or by bus. In Delhi, I prefer to take the metro as it is safe and also value for time. Nearest metro station to Lotus temple is Nehru place metro station. From here you can walk to reach the metro station.
……by Ar. Avitesh
Here, in Lotus temple, you will learn about faith and religion, see the beautiful architecture, meet yourself & also see why Lotus is so cool. Best time to visit Delhi is from October till March. Timings to visit lotus temple are 9:00 AM – 5:30 PM in winters and 9:00 AM- 7:00 PM in summers.
When you will enter the site, you will see hundreds of people there, a big landscape area and a beautiful white lotus. To access the main building, you must down a long excruciatingly hot path. I visited Lotus temple in Feb 2018 during a photography workshop under the guidance of #Paul_Clemence.
… by Ar. Avitesh
If you will visit in late April or after it then it can be uncomfortable because of the hot. Once you will reach the temple, you will notice the variety of unique people surrounding you. Then you will enter into the most beautiful lotus of the world but remember no photography and talking is allowed inside. I sat for a few moments inside the temple surrounded by people all over the world. I closed my eyes and felt the peace. For me, it was a wonderful experience. After some time I exit and then took some photographs as that was my assignment for that day.
#A different view….
Previously, we have discussed architecture and traveler view of Lotus temple. Undoubtedly it is a beautiful building with a wonderful concept and landscaping. But now I want to highlight another view of Lotus temple that is divided into two point – positive one & negative one. Firstly we will focus on the positive point.
As I felt in lotus temple, peace, eloquent silence and divine atmosphere totally touched my heart. When I was sitting inside the Lotus Temple with closing eyes, I just thought about Taj Mahal which is also a beautiful place and also a wonder of the world. Taj Mahal is a symbol of love, the great love we can say, which Shahjahan loved his wife. While the Taj is an expression of deep personal love but for me, the Lotus temple symbolizes the love between the men and God. And that time in the temple I felt that. The silent world was around me and nobody was fighting with each other, no problem, no boundation. That was the most beautiful experience of my life.
But after few minutes, everybody was in hurry to exit. I just opened my eyes because of that noise. Most of the people were there because they were on Delhi tour. So it was a little sad for me because they didn’t know what is the actual feature of that building. Lotus Temple is a place of meditation, in five minutes you can’t feel that thing.
So I want to suggest to you when you are planning to visit Lotus Temple, Take your time and feel the love inside. Don’t make it just a place to add to your travel book.