Bahá'í Houses of Worship are open
to all peoples. Although their architectural styles differ widely, the
nine sides and central dome common to all of them symbolize at once the
diversity of the human race and its essential oneness. Devotional
programs are simple, consisting of prayers, meditations, and the reading
of selections from the sacred scriptures of the Bahá'í Faith and other
world religions. Music is provided by unaccompanied choirs.
As conceived by Bahá'u'lláh , the House of Worship is intended as the
spiritual center for various dependent institutions dedicated to
scientific, humanitarian, educational and administrative service.
As gathering places for prayer and
meditation, Bahá'í Houses of Worship are buildings that most closely
approximate the place of the church, the temple or the mosque in other
religions. 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 ways 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 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.
A new House of Worship is under construction in Chile, Central
America.
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 Ashq-Abad, each
will become the focus of community life, as well as a center for social,
scientific, educational, and humanitarian services.
