Spiritual
Beacons for the Community
As a gathering place for prayer and meditation, Bahá'í
Houses of Worship are the religious buildings that most
closely approximate the role of the church, the temple or the
mosque. Yet they are also something more.
As envisioned by Bahá'u'lláh, local Houses of Worship will
someday be the focal point for a community's spiritual
life--and an expression of its humanitarian concern.
So far, seven
Houses of Worship have been built--at least one on each
continent, a token of the Faith's global progress. At the
present stage of the Faith's development, Bahá'ís have
focused on creating and developing the social and spiritual
institutions of community life rather than on the construction
of physical buildings in every community. Yet those Houses of
Worship which have been constructed stand as beacons calling
the world to a new mode of religious worship and life.
Each temple has
its own distinctive design, and yet conforms to a set of
architectural requirements that give a unifying theme. All Bahá'í
Houses of Worship must have nine sides and a central dome.
The first House
of Worship was built in Russia, in the city of Ashkhabad in
Central Asia. Completed around 1908, the Ashkhabad House of
Worship served the Bahá'í community of that region until
1938, when the site was appropriated by the Soviet Government.
The building was demolished in 1962 after being damaged by an
earthquake.
The Ashkhabad
House of Worship was in many way ahead of its time. In
addition to serving as a spiritual center for the thriving Bahá'í
community in that region, it gave practical expression to the
community's humanitarian ideas. Attached to it were a number
of subsidiaries, including a hospital, a school, and a hostel
for travelers.
The first House
of Worship in the West was completed in 1953, in Wilmette,
Illinois, U.S.A., on the shores of Lake Michigan, just north
of Chicago. Its filigree dome and extraordinary ornamentation
combine features drawn from the architectural styles of both
East and West, and it has attracted millions of visitors over
the years. Other Bahá'í Houses of Worship were subsequently
built in Kampala, Uganda; near Sydney, Australia; outside
Frankfurt, Germany; overlooking Panama City, Panama; and in
Apia, Western Samoa.
The newest House
of Worship--as of this writing--was completed in 1986 in New
Delhi, India. Since that time the structure has won numerous
architectural awards and been featured in hundreds of
newspaper and magazine articles.
Inspired by the
lotus flower, its design is composed of 27 free-standing
marble clad "petals"--arranged in clusters of three
to form nine sides.
Nine doors open
onto a central hall, capable of holding up to 2,500 people.
Slightly more than 40 meters tall, its surface luminous, the
temple at times seems to float above its 26-acre site on the
outskirts of the Indian capital.
In a few short
years the New Delhi temple has become one of the world's major
attractions, drawing more than two and a half million visitors
a year. On Hindu holy days, it has drawn as many as
100,000--so revered is the Bahá'í temple by India's people,
whatever their religious background.
Indeed, all Houses of Worship are open to people of every
religion. There are no sermons, rituals or clergy.
Around the world,
more than 120 sites have so far been set aside for future
Houses of Worship. Ultimately, every local Bahá'í community
will have its own House of Worship. Like the first one in
Ashkhabad, each will become the focus of community life, as
well as a center for social, scientific, educational, and
humanitarian services.
