Lotus Temple
— the silence under twenty-seven petals.
Not only on a wall.
“A Bahá'í house of worship in south Delhi, built in twenty-seven white marble petals arranged in three rings of nine. Opened in December 1986 and open to all faiths. Inside the hall there is no liturgy, no clergy, no music; visitors enter, sit, and the room asks for silence. Outside, nine pools hold the reflection. — from the studio
Lotus Temple, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
The Lotus Temple is a Bahá'í House of Worship in the Bahapur area of south Delhi, near Kalkaji, completed in December 1986. The Iranian-Canadian architect Fariborz Sahba designed the building as a half-open lotus blossom, with twenty-seven free-standing white marble petals arranged in clusters of three to form nine sides. It is the mother temple of the Indian subcontinent and one of seven continental Bahá'í houses of worship worldwide. The Bahá'í faith holds that places of worship must welcome adherents of every religion, and the temple draws several million visitors a year.
Inside the central hall there is no clergy, no liturgy, no music, and no preaching. Visitors enter quietly, find a seat under the nine-sided dome, and the room enforces its own silence. Brief readings from the scriptures of any religion are permitted; congregational singing is not. The hall seats about 1,300 people and the inner dome rises 34.3 metres above the floor. The effect is closer to a held breath than to a service. Removing shoes at the entrance is required.
Entry is free. The temple is open every day except Mondays, generally from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in winter and to 7 p.m. in summer. Photography is allowed in the gardens but not inside the central hall. The nearest metro station is Kalkaji Mandir on the Violet and Magenta lines, a short walk from the south gate. Quiet hours are early morning on weekdays; weekends and public holidays bring long queues at the outer plaza.