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| Baha'i House of Worship |
This was an adventure I enjoyed all by myself. It was quite exciting being in a strange place, enquiring your way around and exploring. I walked to Karol Bagh Metro Station from Hotel Jewel Palace. It took me about 25 minutes as I stopped now and again to click pictures on my way.
I went up to take a token to Kalkaji Mandir. When asked, the ticket counter clerk explained to me that I needed to take the Blue metro line to Rajiv Chowk; get off there and take the Yellow line to Central Secretariat and then take the Violet line to Kalkaji Mandir Metro Station.
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| After walking 3/4 of a km, I reached the compound gate |
I must have walked up and down ten flights of stairs before I reached Kalkaji Mandir Metro Station. But even then it had taken me just about an hour while I must have crossed some 20 stations on my way.
The Bahai Temple is about half a kilometre away from the metro or so said a board. I decided to walk asking directions. Yeah, when you complete the ½ km mark, you reach the beginning of the compound railing. You need to walk another 250 metres before you reach the gate.
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| Its a long but lovely walk to the temple amidst greenery |
The entry was free of cost. The temple is a beautiful structure designed like a lotus with nine petals, with nine ponds of water tiled in blue in between petals. You can imagine the cold with the wind blowing over the water bodies. The place was fairly crowded with locals and foreigners.
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| The waterbodies around the temple - there are nine of them |
The Bahai House of Worship has temples in seven places around the world and the one in Delhi is the latest. It is an amazing structure and I am sure it is also a ‘portal’ that could move people into another dimension. No one mentioned anything about this. This is just my conjecture that I am sure will be proved over time.
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| The entrance to the prayer hall |
They let us in, in batches. I went in to sit on a bench by myself and the chilled marble felt extremely cold. I looked at the high ceiling and the lovely structure for a while. I realized that there was no time limit to remaining within the temple itself.
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| I got someone to take a picture of me at Baha'i Temple |
I walked out after that and the cold air hit me hard. It made me feel hungry. I still walked around a bit, taking pictures and then managed to finally tear myself away from the peaceful temple of oneness.
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| Look at the antenna at top centre. That's what makes me believe this is a portal. And what's that shadow? There is no bird out there |
Click here to know more about Baha’i faith and the temple
Click here to see more pictures of Baha'i House of Worship
sun too good.
ReplyDeletevery happy for you.
awaiting to see the original
Thank you Jayu! I hope you see the original soon too :)
DeleteThat was so good to read about the Baha'i House of Worship. Felt your emotions which you describe so beautifully and simply.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
Michael
Thank you for the wonderful comment, Michael :)
DeleteI felt I was there with you - had never seen the long path and imagined the cool weather, and then wept with you when peace overcame awareness of all but love beauty unity promise
ReplyDeletethank you for taking the time to write and share the beautiful photos
Jacqueline
Thank you very much, Jacqueline. It is an absolute joy to bring my visit alive to my readers. :)
DeleteIt was my hope to bring happiness and peace to those who read this. I am glad to have achieved that with at least some of you.
Hi, that's wonderful that you've reach to a very sacred place and you showed your reverence to it. Now, the question is what is that made your tears rolled down? What feeling made you feel warmth by it calmness? I guess you have yet to found the inner source of that which awaken your consciousness. Don't you think so?
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comment. Maybe you are right in your observations. :)
DeleteThe Baha'i House of Worship near Delhi is truly a sacred place of the modern age. The Baha'i Teachings came to the world in a flood of one hundred and eleven years of Writings from the three central figures of the Faith ~ Baha'u'llah,the Founder; the Bab, forerunner to Baha'u'llah, and 'Abdu'l-baha (lit. 'the servant of Glory') the son of Baha'u'llah who spent some 40 years in prison with his Father in Pelestine since he was nine years old. 'Abdu'l-Baha was able to travel to America in 1912 creating a notable wave of interest across the continent as He traveled and taught ceaselessly until his passing in 1921. The Will and Testament of both Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha guaranteed the unity of the followers of their Teachings throughout at least the next 1,000 years. It is the most widespread spiritual community on the planet - and, although very quiet, it is also the fastest growing community on earth recently reaching close to six million adherents from every race, religious background, ethnic background and economic strata of the planet. Nothing in history has ever succeeding in uniting such a diverse group of human beings into one unified whole - a striking contrast to the past. It has a rich history of countless stories of sacrifice and honor. Over 20,000 souls gave their lives willingly as martyrs in the early days of its birth in Persia. Their loving sacrifice is the foundation of this world-wide Baha'i community.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comment Toff.
DeleteAnd thank you for sharing so much information about the Baha'i faith.
warm regards,
Sundari
Thanks, Sundari - just a drop out of the Ocean of the Baha'i Revelation.
ReplyDeleteMany years ago I and my family used to live in Kathmandu. From there on several occasions we would be taken to visit the Baha'i Temple then under construction. More recently I travelled out from England with my daughter and was fortunate to be able to visit this beautiful Baha'i House of Worship again. It was impressive! Very beautiful and very tranquil, especially in comparison with the noise and clatter of the traffic outside the Temple environment. What was especially impressive inside was the delightful mixture of people praying silently together in an atmosphere of mutual respect. No doubt these people came from all religious backgrounds. It was good to observe the many differences in creed, race, colour and caste and to feel contentment that this was so. Also of great interest to me was the Baha'i Visitor Centre where it was possible to learn more about the Baha'i Faith and its history from the mid 19th century until the present day. This is really a faith for the future which has the potential to unite mankind as one.
ReplyDeleteThank you Thelma for sharing all that information. Unfortunately for me I could not visit the Visitor Centre as it was closed that day. I am glad to have so many of you discuss all that I missed right here on my blog.
Deletewarm regards,
Sundari
Namaste Allah'u'abha dear Sundari! How much my husband & i appreciated not only the beautiful images but indeed your inspiring & uplifting words. Indeed where else to turn in these turbulent times but to the One Source which is mirrored without & within. Thank you again dear sister!
ReplyDeleteThank you Rebecca! So glad to meet you through my blog. And I am happy that you and your husband enjoyed the pictures and the write up. :D
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