Lotus Temple

연꽃 사원

The Lotus Temple, also called the Baha'i House of Worship, New Delhi, stands at Bahapur in south Delhi, India. The architect Fariborz Sahba designed it as a half-open lotus made of 27 free-standing petals of concrete clad in white marble, arranged in three rings of nine around a central hall. From outside it looks like a flower about to bloom.

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At a glance

Country: India
Location: New Delhi, India
Built: 1986
Height: 34 m
Type: Religious building

Quick answers

Where is Lotus Temple?

Lotus Temple is in New Delhi, India.

When was Lotus Temple built?

Lotus Temple was built in 1986.

How tall is Lotus Temple?

Lotus Temple is about 34 m tall.

A Baháʼí house of worship shaped like a lotus of 27 marble petals, open to people of all faiths.

It was dedicated on 24 December 1986 and opened to the public on 1 January 1987. Like all Baha'i houses of worship, it welcomes people of every religion. It draws more than five million visitors a year, and by 2014 more than 100 million people in all had visited, making it one of the most visited sites in India.

A long wait for a temple

In 1920 Baha'is in Bombay asked the religion's leader, Abdu'l-Baha, for permission to build a House of Worship in India. The land at Bahapur, a name meaning Abode of Baha, was bought in 1954. The site was about 92,000 square metres of hilly land. Sahba was chosen in 1976 from 45 architects who entered a worldwide competition, and his design was approved in August 1977. The foundation stone was laid on 17 October 1977.

Why a lotus?

Every Baha'i House of Worship must be nine-sided and circular. Sahba travelled across India and Sri Lanka to study temples and sacred places before choosing a form. He said an Indian Baha'i first suggested the lotus, and carvings of lotuses in the Ajanta and Ellora Caves caught his attention. The lotus is a sacred flower in Indian religious tradition and a symbol of purity. The 27 petals are grouped in threes to make the nine sides. Nine doors open into the central hall, which is about 34 metres high and can hold around 1,300 people.

Building it

The main building work ran from April 1980 to 1986, by the ECC Construction Group of Larsen and Toubro. London engineers Flint and Neill worked out the structure, taking about eighteen months to produce the structural scheme and working drawings. Around forty engineers and supervisors and several hundred labourers worked on the site. Reviewers compared the finished building with the Sydney Opera House, and it won awards from the Institution of Structural Engineers and the American Concrete Institute.