Baháʼí House of Worship, New Delhi

Lotus Temple, Delhi

The Flower Everyone May Enter

Twenty-seven marble petals, nine doors, one silent hall: the Lotus Temple — a Baháʼí House of Worship shaped like India's own sacred flower — has received over 100 million visitors, among the most-visited buildings on earth. No idol, no priest, no collection plate: all faiths sit together in silence, with brief readings from any scripture.

What Is Here

• The petals: 27 free-standing Penteli-marble shells (same quarries as the Parthenon) in clusters of three — entrance leaves, outer leaves, inner bud; glass-and-steel crown admits daylight
• The hall: 34 m high, seats 1,300; nine surrounding ponds cool the 26-acre grounds
• The rule: silence inside; photography outside only; shoes checked at counters
• India's Baha'is: among the world's largest national Baha'i communities — village teaching, children's classes, and the 2017 education centre beside the Temple; see Baha'i Faith in India

Visiting

• Kalkaji (Magenta Line); closed Mondays; arrive before 4 PM for unhurried entry; combine with Kalkaji Mandir next door — goddess and lotus in one afternoon