- 1977-10-17 — At the end of the Asian Bahá'í Women's Conference Hand of the Cause Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum laid the foundation stone of the Mother Temple of the Indian Subcontinent. [BW17:85, 180, 368–70; VV35]
- 1986-12-23 — International Teaching Conference was held in New Delhi in conjunction with the opening of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár. It was attended by 8,000 Bahá'ís from 114 countries. [BW20p731-753]
- 1986-12-24 —
The House of Worship in New Delhi, the Mother Temple of the Indian Subcontinent, was dedicated in the presence of Hand of the Cause Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum and more than 8,000 Bahá'ís from 114 countries. [AWH47; BINS161; BW19:102 BW20p732-733, VV92]
- On October 1st, 1954 the Guardian announced that a plot
lying in the outskirts of New Delhi has
been secured at the price of a hundred
thousand rupees as the site of the first
Mashriqu'l-Adhkar of the Indian subcontinent. [CBN No58 Nov 1954 p1]
- See VV93–4 for pictures.
- See the video A Documentary on Lotus Temple, complete with transcript, 3 minutes, 52 seconds.
- Marble for the House of Worship was cut and chiseled by Margraf, a firm from Chiampo, Italy formerly known as Industria Marmi Vincentini. [BWNS1223]
- The Universal House of Justice reported that the Bahá'í Temple received more than 120,000 visitors within the first thirty days of its dedication. [Ridván 1987]
Specifics
Location: New Delhi, India (Bahapur (Abode of Light))
Foundation Stone: 17 October 1977 (Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum)
Construction Period: April 1980 - December 1986
Site Dedication:24 December 1986 (Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum placed a silver casket containing Dust from the Shrines of Bahá'u'lláh and the Báb into the crown of the Prayer Hall arch facing 'Akká)
Architect/Project Manager: Fariburz Sahbá
Seating: 1200
Dimensions:Inner buds are 34.3m high, the outer leaves are 15.4m wide and 22.5m high.
Cost: $10m
Dependencies:
References: BW16p486-487, BW17p368-370, BW18p103-104, 571-584, BW19p559-568, BW20p731-753
- 1987-00-04 — The film, Heart of the Lotus, made by Elizabeth Martin, documented the dedication of the House of Worship in New Delhi. [HNWE45]
- 1989-04-06 — Some four million persons had visited the House of Worship in New Delhi to this date. [AWH61]
- 1989-08-03 — The first Latvian resident in Latvia to become a Bahá'í, Lilita Postaza, a renowned tapestry artist, enrolled after visiting the Bahá'í temple in India.
- 1993-04-10 —
The passing of Roger White, writer, editor and "poet laureate" of the Bahá'í community, in Richmond, British Columbia (b. in Toronto on 2 June 1929).
- Served at the World Centre for some twenty years as a secretary and as manager of the publishing department when many important new volumes were published. Under the supervision of the Universal House of Justice, he was responsible for compiling and publishing volumes XIV to XIX of The Bahá'í World, as well as editing the invaluable compendium of volumes I to XII, published in 1981.
- Published, at his own expense, a book of poetry called Summer Window for which he did the drawing on the front cover.
- Another Song, Another Season (1979), The Witness of Pebbles (1981) and a tender and eloquent novel which presented a semi-fictionalized account of the early days of the Bahá'í Faith in Paris, A Sudden Music, was also published by George Ronald in 1983.
- This was followed by a biographical tribute to the poet Emily Dickinson in the form of more than 100 poems: One Bird, One Cage, One Flight (Naturegraph, 1983).
- A short, historical account of the martyrdom of 'Alí-Asghár of Yazd entitled The Shell and the Pearl was published by George Ronald in 1984.
- Occasions of Grace (George Ronald, 1992) was published after he retired from service in Haifa in 1991 following a major heart surgery.
- He returned to Canada and was diagnosed with terminal cancer shortly after.
- His last two collected works of poetry were Notes Postmarked the Mountain of God (New Leaf, 1992) and The Language of There (New Leaf, 1992).
- He also completed the text for Raghu Rai's photographic celebration of the Bahá'í House of Worship in New Delhi, Forever in Bloom. [Bahá'í Studies Review, Vol7, 1997]
- See Bahá'í World 1994-95 pg249 for an article by Anne Boyles entitled "The Language of the Heart: Arts in the Bahá'í World Community" for mention of Roger White.
- See The Journal of Bahá'í Studies Vol. 26 no 1-2, 2016 p91 "Reflections on the Art of My Poetry" by John Hatcher. It is based on a telephone interview with him shortly before his passing.
- For obituary see BW92-93p276
- Find a grave.
- 1995-10-31 — More than a million people visited the Bahá'í House of Worship in India in this period. [BINS357:5]
- 2000-10-29 — The President of the Republic of Iceland, Olafur Ragnar Grimmson, and his family visited the Bahá'í House of Worship. He was the first head of state to visit the famous "Lotus Temple" during an official state visit. The President's visit began with a briefing in the library on Bahá'í social and economic development efforts in India, with an emphasis on recent efforts to contribute to a moral education curriculum for Indian schools. The delegation then visited the House of Worship's main hall for a brief prayer service. The entire visit lasted about 40 minutes. President Grimmson was presented with "Forever in Bloom," a book of photographs about the House of Worship. [BWNS72]
- 2003-03-18 — The President of India, Abdul Kalam, visited the Bahá'í House of Worship in New Delhi, the first official visit there by an Indian Head of State since the Temple was opened in December 1986. [BWNS204]
- 2018-01-25 —
The announcement of the opening of an educational centre at the Bahá'í Lotus Temple. The educational facility, which can accommodate hundreds, will be used to host camps, courses, and seminars for youth and young adults who are involved in efforts to improve their communities. With the opening of the new educational facility, many more will be able to attend these programs than was previously possible.-
Shaheen Javid, General Manager of the House of Worship reported that the Temple, which opened in 1986, received 10,000–15,000 visitors on weekdays and over 35,000 on weekends.
[BWNS1234]
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