The temperatures dropped to two digits this weekend (yay for 99 degrees!) giving me the courage I needed to renew my touristing activities. Top of the list, Delhi's superlative Lotus Temple, built in 1986. The Lotus Temple is a Baha'i house of worship that to my untrained eye looks a hell of a lot like the Sydney opera house.
(Please also note the super cute kurta I'm rocking)
Everything I know about the Baha'i religion comes from my ex-roommate who was herself not Baha'i, but had a former college roommate who was Baha'i. The way I see it that connection + my trip to the Lotus Temple pretty much makes me an expert on the Baha'i religion. As an expert I can tell you that Baha'i is a peaceful religion which sort of comprises aspects from all world religions but strikes me as being pretty similar to Quakerism in particular in that they're down with anyone coming to pray in their house and there's no preaching. You just kinda sit there in silence and meditate on stuff.
What, dear reader, can you honestly tell me that you know anything about the Baha'i religion that you didn't just look up on wikipedia?
Anyway, the one thing I can tell you absolutely is that the Lotus Temple is a breathtaking piece of architecture--and when you step inside it feels like a real sanctuary (sadly, no photos were allowed inside, so I didn't take any, but you can probably google around if you're interested).
Of course, being a tourist site means it comes with tourist hassles--re: awful autowallahs who refuse to take you directly home without stopping at their friend's market first. But, c'est le Delhi. You have to take the good and bad together.
Who was the architect. It looks great
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