We got to Delhi (or New Delhi as it’s known) in the afternoon and didn’t have a chance to get out until late afternoon. We only had time for one stop (traffic being horrendous) and our one stop was the Baha’i House of Worship. This religion invites all people and all religions and all races to worship here. They honor the Creator of the Universe and express love between God and man. I was very impressed with their philosophy and approach to religion which includes science and equality.

Their house of worship design was inspired by the lotus which is a beautiful flower and a symbol of purity that is associated with worship and religion in India. The building actually looks like a lotus flower. It has nine white marble-covered petals in the center surrounded by nine more marble-covered sepals or petals and that is surrounded by nine pools of water which signify the green leaves of the lotus. Inside this huge building was just marble flooring and wooden pews. There were no religious icons at all. We had to take off our shoes to go inside and there was no talking inside. Thousands of people were streaming into and out of the building. There were not as many people as we left as it was nearly closing time. The religion itself sounds very sensible and appealing.

The first photo is as we were approaching the building. The sun is just to the left and behind the building, so it’s not a great photo.

The second photo was taken from the back side of the building, so the sun was behind me and to the right. I loved the symmetry of the building, but perhaps the most amazing aspect of the symmetry was the fact that the pigeons were sitting almost symmetrically on either side of the lowest petals or sepals. Can you see that in the photo? It must be one heck of a religion to get the pigeons to buy into the whole symmetry thing.

The last photo was taken as we were leaving. The grounds were quite nice but not outstanding. They were also symmetrical as you might notice. It was near closing time, so very few people were still coming in at that point in time.