The Lotus Temple is one of the most amazing architectural structures located in India very close to the capital of the state. It is worth noting that the place for the construction was not chosen at all by chance - once in this place the sacred village of Baha Pur was located. The construction process lasted for 8 years, and Fariborz Sahba worked on the design and project of the building.
General information
Lotus Temple (Delhi, India) is a prayer house. One of the most majestic and grandiose buildings in India has a clear shape of the flower of the same name, only of huge size. This "flower" consists of twenty-seven petals arranged in three rows. Separate parts of the structure are made of crystal clear white concrete, and on the outside the lotus petals are covered with monolithic slabs of white Greek marble.
Remarkable fact - only to create a computer model of this grandiose structuretook a little over two years. In addition, the Lotus Temple is also unique in that there is not a single straight line directly in the entire structure of the building - only ovals and semicircles, which, in turn, symbolize the infinity and imperishability of the spiritual component of man.
The height of the building is more than 30 meters, while the actual diameter of this "flower" is 70 meters. The capacity of the main hall is 1300 people. In addition, to emphasize the grandeur of the entire structure, there are 9 large pools around the building. It is thanks to this design feature that it seems that the stone flower has grown out of the water.
The uniqueness of the temple
The ventilation system of the grand structure deserves special attention. It is designed on the principle of operation of the oldest ventilations that were used in Indian buildings. The warm air that accumulates in the central hall is freely released outside through an opening located in the upper part of the dome. And the cool air that passes through the foundation and the system of nine pools is returned back to the hall.
Lotus Temple (Delhi, India) is open to the public. Every day a huge number of pilgrims and believers flock here from different parts of the world. However, many tourists should remember that you can enter the sacred building only by taking off your shoes at the entrance. In addition, any conversations (even in a whisper), video filming and photography are prohibited on the territory of this facility.
Meaning of the temple
Lotus Temple isone of the few buildings in the world, which impresses not only with its majesty and monumentality, but also with the richest cultural and religious potential. At its core, India is a wonderland, so it’s hard to surprise the locals here, but this magnificent “flower” certainly became one of the most famous buildings of the late 20th century.
A well-known Chinese proverb says: "Be calm, like a lotus flower at the foot of the temple of truth." This saying can easily be attributed to the grandiose architectural masterpiece, which is now dubbed the modern Taj Mahal of India.
It is worth noting that the lotus has been a sacred plant for a huge amount of time. In addition to the fact that the buildings and dwellings of the Hindus are decorated with this flower, there is even a kind of “art of the lotus”, which helps a person gain control over his own thoughts and find the path to natural enlightenment.
Lotus Temple in India
Temple today hospitably opens its doors to everyone. It is visited annually by more than 1 million people (pilgrims, religious believers, residents of India and neighboring countries, as well as tourists from all over the world).
In the central hall there are 9 doors, each of which leads to a different side of the "flower", symbolizing the number of paths for a true Baha'i. It is worth noting that the interior of the temple is devoid of any painting and objectsworship is, by the way, not very typical of Indian culture.
The Temple of the Lotus is the place where the soul of a person finds peace, thoughts are put in order, a person achieves inner peace. People come here to philosophize, to think about the meaning of life, and also to immerse themselves in thoughts about the perishability of all things.
