Ralf Regele

Germany - 01-Aug-17 -

The Lotus temple in New Delhi is a Bahai temple built in modern style - something special in a land where almost all places of worship are built in a traditional style. The design of the temple is quite pleasing and sure looks good on photos, however actually visiting the place can be a bit underwhelming. Firstly, visiting takes a bit of effort - you can't just walk in. Arriving is the easiest part - you can take the Delhi metro to get near and then walk the rest (or take the inescapable tuk-tuk). You then have to wait in a long queue - there are a lot of other tourists (mainly indians) who want to visit the temple. Don't take any bottles with you (even empty ones) - they throw them away, then send you back to the end of the queue. After entering, you have to deposit your shoes at a busy storage station and walk through the gardens without them, all while being pushed around in a long stampede of visitors. The gardens are well-kept, but offer nothing special. The view of the main building could be great if the Delhi smog does not spoil it - you are still within the city's dust dome. You can't enter the temple itself, but you can peek inside and see that it is almost completely empty - no lavish treasure, statues or decorations in this temple. You will not learn much about the Bahai faith, and don't expect any spiritual experiences.

Maybe I am a bit harsh on the site here. It is a imposing building, however for the european eyes it looks too similar to any modernist multi-purpose hall, and it doesn't offer the exotic flair you expect from an indian temple. I fail to see the WHS potential - the Bahai faith is already well represented with its very own WHS, and there are a lot of modernist buildings that can offer similar architectural merits.

Visited November 2015

Importance: 2/5 Beauty: 3/5 Uniqueness: 4/5 Environment: 3/5 Experience: 2/5