# Mashriqu'l-Adhkar

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Julie Badiee, Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> Mashriqu’l-Adhkár (Arabic: "Dawning
> Place of the Praise of God")
> Term used primarily to refer to a Bahá’í House of Worship, also known as a
> Temple, and its surrounding dependencies.
> 
> ARTICLE OUTLINE:                                     THE INSTITUTION OF THE
> MASHRIQU’L-ADHKÁR
> The Institution of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár
> Concept
> Purpose                                    Concept
> Form                                       The term Mashriqu’l-Adhkár is used in the writings
> Symbolism                                  of Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and Shoghi Effendi to
> Houses of Worship around the World              refer to a gathering of Bahá’ís worshiping and
> Ashgabat (Ashkhabad, ‘Ishqábád)
> praising God through use of sacred scripture,
> Chicago
> especially at dawn; to a building dedicated to such
> Kampala
> worship; to the complex of buildings surrounding a
> Sydney
> Frankfurt am Main                          central House of Worship that Bahá’u’lláh ordained
> Panama City                                to be at the heart of every Bahá’í community and
> Apia                                       that is to include educational and humanitarian
> New Delhi                                  service institutions open to people of all religions;
> Santiago                                   and to the central House of Worship, or Temple,
> Future Plans                                    itself. Only Bahá’ís may contribute funds to the
> ARTICLE RESOURCES:                                   building and operation of a Mashriqu’l-Adhkár. As
> is generally the case with Bahá’í institutions, the
> Notes
> development of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár as an
> Other Sources and Related Reading
> institution is both gradual and evolutionary.
> 
> In His book of laws, the Kitáb-i-Aqdas      (Most Holy
> Book), Bahá’u’lláh describes the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár as a
> building erected in a city or village for the worship of
> God.1 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, whose ministry spanned the period
> 1892–1921, encouraged the Bahá’ís to establish
> Mashriqu’l-Adhkárs in every "hamlet and city"; 2 if this
> were not possible due to severe persecution, He advised,
> the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár could even be "underground."3
> Many Bahá’í communities in Iran and in the Transcaspian
> Territory in Russia designated ordinary houses in their
> localities as Mashriqu’l-Adhkárs (See: ‘Alavíyyih Khánum,
> and ‘Alí Ján, Mullá).
> ‘Abdu’l- Bahá addressing the gathering on the occasion of the
> laying of the cornerstone of the Wilmette Temple, 1 May 1912.
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá also referred to the dependencies to be        Bahá’íPhotographic Library
> 
> established as part of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár complex,
> including a hospital, a drug dispensary for the poor, a travelers’ hospice, a school for orphans, a home
> for the infirm and disabled, a university for advanced studies, and "other philanthropic buildings" open
> to people of all races, ethnic backgrounds, and religions.4 These dependencies were later described by
> Shoghi Effendi, in general terms, as "institutions of social service" that relieve suffering, sustain the
> poor, and provide shelter, solace, and education. 5 At the beginning of the twentieth century, ‘Abdu’l-
> Bahá oversaw the construction of the first such Mashriqu’l-Adhkár complex, built in Ashgabat
> (Ashkhabad) in Russia’s Transcaspian Territory (now Turkmenistan). He also approved the site and
> design for the first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in the West, near Chicago, and participated in laying its
> cornerstone.
> 
> The changing pace and character of Bahá’í administrative development after 1921 influenced the
> development of the institution of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár. As Head of the Bahá’í Faith from 1921 to 1957,
> Shoghi Effendi directed the evolution of the Bahá’í Administrative Order (See: Administration, Bahá’í)
> and the Faith’s worldwide expansion. During much of this period, he maintained completing the first
> House of Worship of the West as the primary focus of Temple building. After the dedication of the
> Temple near Chicago in 1953, he gave priority to two aspects of Mashriqu’l-Adhkár development at the
> national and international levels: (1) erecting a few large, specially built Houses of Worship, one on
> each continent, as examples of the edifices that will eventually be built in every nation and locality; and
> (2) obtaining properties in each country for future Temples and dependencies. He also concentrated the
> efforts of Bahá’í communities around the world on acquiring national and local Hazíratu’l-Quds (a term
> meaning "Sacred Fold"), Bahá’í administrative centers that may also be used for a variety of community
> functions. An institution complementary to the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, the Hazíratu’l-Quds is to be situated
> near the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, if possible. Both are under the jurisdiction of the national or local Bahá’í
> governing council, at present known as the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of that country or locality.
> 
> The Universal House of Justice, established in 1963, has continued to pursue the two priorities set by
> Shoghi Effendi for Mashriqu’l-Adhkár development. Nearing the end of the first decade of the twenty-
> first century, seven continental Houses of Worship exist in various areas of the globe, administered by
> the National Spiritual Assemblies (See: Administration, Bahá’í.Institutions of Bahá’í
> Administration.National Spiritual Assemblies) of their respective countries, and an eighth is being built.
> As yet, none of the Houses of Worship include the range of subsidiary institutions that will eventually
> be part of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár complex.
> 
> The House of Worship in Ashgabat most closely resembled the ideal of a Mashriqu’l-Adhkár complex.
> Although it functioned for a relatively short time, the model created in Ashgabat continues to set the
> standard for the Mashriqu’l-Adhkárs of the future (See Section: Houses of Worship around the
> World.Ashgabat).
> 
> Purpose
> The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár is to be an integral part of Bahá’í
> community life. Its central building, the House of
> Worship, is specifically dedicated to prayer, meditation,
> and praising God. Because the aim of this structure, as
> of all Bahá’í institutions, is to foster and encourage unity,
> the building is open to all, not just Bahá’ís. In an address
> on the occasion of the laying of the cornerstone of the
> Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in Wilmette, near Chicago, in 1912,
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explained: "the original purpose of temples
> and houses of worship is simply that of unity—places of
> meeting where various peoples, different races and souls
> of every capacity may come together in order that love
> and agreement should be manifest between them . . .
> Worshippers and choir members in prayer on the mezzanine
> that all religions, races and sects may come together           level of the Bahá’í House of Worship in Samoa. Date: 2004- 11-
> within its universal shelter." 6                                30. © Bahá’í International Community. Bahá’í Media Bank
> 
> In keeping with the Bahá’í Faith’s devotional practices and its emphasis on universality, the auditorium
> of the House of Worship and the activities within it are kept simple. Images and pictures are excluded
> from the auditorium. No altars, pulpits, or fixed speaker’s platforms are erected. No talks or sermons
> are delivered, and no elaborate ceremonies practiced. Since the Bahá’í Faith has no clergy, no one
> person leads devotions in the auditorium of the House of Worship. During devotional programs, invited
> readers, who may be adherents of any religion, recite or chant the holy scriptures of the Bahá’í Faith
> and of other religions. Music, which is regarded as an important part of the worship and praise of God,
> may be included in the devotional services in the auditorium of the House of Worship. Only music based
> on words of holy scripture and sung a cappella by a choir or soloists is used in the auditorium; recorded
> and instrumental music are not permitted there.
> 
> Although no specific day of the week or time of day is set aside for worship, Bahá’u’lláh, in the Kitáb-i-
> Aqdas, encourages the Bahá’ís to go to the House of Worship at dawn and sit in silence, listening to the
> scriptures being read.7 He also exhorts parents to teach their children to chant the verses of God so
> that they may recite them in the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár.8
> 
> The subsidiary buildings and the grounds around the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár may be used for a variety of
> purposes. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote on one occasion of His wish that a great feast be held on the site of the
> Wilmette Mashriqu’l-Adhkár during the Ridvan festival (the annual period from 21 April to 2 May
> commemorating Bahá’u’lláh’s declaration of His mission to His companions in Baghdad in 1863) and
> that on this occasion the melodies of the violin and the mandolin might be heard. 9 Events similar to the
> one ‘Abdu’l-Bahá described have been held at various Houses of Worship. For example, from 28 March
> to 6 April 1986, during the United Nations International Year of Peace, the grounds of the House of
> Worship near Sydney, Australia, were the site of a Peace Exposition that included an eight-hour concert
> and a variety of musical presentations. On 22 November 2000 the opening ceremony for an
> international "Colloquium on Science, Religion and Development," which took place on the grounds of
> the Bahá’í House of Worship in New Delhi, featured a concert of classical Indian music performed on
> traditional instruments. An annual daylong Sommerfest with music, dance, devotions, and international
> foods is held on the grounds of the House of Worship near Frankfurt, Germany, attracting thousands of
> participants from all parts of Europe.
> 
> The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explains, is a "material
> structure" that has "a spiritual effect" and, indeed, "a powerful
> influence on every phase of life." 10 Its purpose is not fulfilled by
> worship alone; it must inspire the direct actions of those working
> to regenerate the life of humanity. The dependencies
> surrounding the Temple link worship to service to humanity; the
> prayers and praise of God expressed within the Temple are
> translated into deeds of compassion, care, and education in the
> world outside.
> 
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi refer to the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár
> as a witness to and an embodiment of the teachings of
> Bahá’u’lláh—a "silent teacher"—and as a stimulus to the
> spreading of those teachings. "When the foundation of the
> Mashriqu’l-Adhkár is laid in America," ‘Abdu’l-Bahá predicted,
> "and that Divine Edifice is completed, a most wonderful and
> thrilling motion will appear in the world of existence . . . From
> that point of light the spirit of teaching, spreading the Cause of
> God and promoting the teachings of God, will permeate to all
> parts of the world." 11
> The Bahá’í House of Worship in Langenhain, Germany.
> © Bahá’í International Community. Bahá’í Media Bank
> Form
> Bahá’u’lláh urges that Houses of Worship be made "as perfect as is possible in the world of being" and
> that they be befittingly adorned. 12 The House of Worship has three prerequisites: it is to be circular
> shape, to have nine sides, and to be surrounded by nine gardens with walkways. The emphasis on the
> number nine comes from the understanding that this number, the largest single digit, symbolizes
> perfection, comprehensiveness, and unity. Nine is also the numerical value of the Arabic word bahá
> (light, glory) according to the ancient abjad system, in which each letter of the alphabet is accorded
> numerical significance.
> 
> Certain features, although not compulsory, have come to be accepted in building a Mashriqu’l-Adhkár.
> The laying of a cornerstone containing tokens associated with the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is
> customary. A dome is not one of the essential features specified by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, but Shoghi Effendi
> advised in 1955 that "at this time all Bahá’í temples should have a dome." 13 While the structures must
> be nine-sided, they do not necessarily need nine doorways. The seats in the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár usually
> face the qiblih or point toward which Bahá’ís should turn in prayer—the burial place of Bahá’u’lláh near
> Acre, located in what is now Israel (See: Bahá’í World Center.Early Development), but Shoghi Effendi
> specifically instructed that the House of Worship not have a special window "oriented toward the East
> [i.e., the qiblih]."14
> 
> Aside from a few specific instructions, no strict guidelines for a House of Worship’s architectural style
> and no formal expectations for its design have been set. "The essentials of the design, as stipulated by
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá are that the building should be nine-sided, and circular in shape," Shoghi Effendi explains.
> "Aside from this, the architect is not restricted in any way in choosing his style of design." 15 Moreover,
> the architect need not be a Bahá’í. To date, architects who were not affiliated with the Bahá’í Faith have
> designed two Houses of Worship—in Frankfurt and Panama—and in other cases, as in Ashgabat and
> Sydney, have played a collaborative role in realizing the design.
> 
> Shoghi Effendi urges that the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár be built in an enduring style, rather than one that may
> be popular only for a time, and describes the ideal design as being "dignified," with a "delicate
> architectural beauty" and a "graceful" outline. 16 Future Mashriqu’l-Adhkár complexes will undoubtedly
> continue to reflect a strong diversity in their style and inspiration, often including the incorporation of
> indigenous architectural influences in the design.
> 
> Symbolism
> The House of Worship is replete with symbolic meanings beyond those associated with its physical form
> and structure. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá describes such buildings as "symbols of the reality and divinity of God."17 At
> the dedication of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár site in Wilmette in 1912, He expressed the hope that the
> Temple to be built there might become like the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in Ashgabat, which He described as
> "a beautiful bouquet" with the potential to become "a paradise" when completed. 18 Such imagery has
> found realistic form in the inclusion of gardens and in some cases pools of water in the design of the
> various Mashriqu’l-Adhkár complexes.
> 
> Shoghi Effendi referred to the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in Wilmette as "the Harbinger" of Bahá’u’lláh’s world
> order and, in a 1939 cablegram, as an "ARK" that would survive a "TIDAL WAVE" of "WORLD-ENCIRCLING
> CALAMITIES ."19 Shoghi Effendi applied the term "Mother Temple" to the first House of Worship of the
> West and to the first to be built in various regions and countries, intimating that these first Temples
> would be the progenitors and models for many others to come. In ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s words, "Out of this
> Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, without doubt, thousands of Mashriqu’l-Adhkárs will be born." 20
> The House of Worship in Wilmette was likened by its architect,
> Louis Bourgeois, to a "Great Bell, calling to America."21 The
> Temple in New Delhi, India, resembles the lotus flower, which,
> as it arises from the swamp with the utmost purity and
> perfection, symbolizes the Messenger of God in the world. 22
> Indeed, each of the Houses of Worship may be understood to be
> a symbol for Bahá’u’lláh as the Messenger, or Manifestation, of
> God for this age. "The real Collective Centers are the
> Manifestations of God, of Whom the church or temple is a
> The Bahá’í House of Worship in New Delhi, India. 29   symbol and expression," ‘Abdu’l-Bahá states. "That is to say, the
> September 1989. © Bahá’í International Community.
> Bahá’í Media Bank
> Manifestation of God is the real divine temple and Collective
> Center of which the outer church is but a symbol." 23
> 
> HOUSES OF WORSHIP AROUND THE WORLD
> 
> Ashgabat (Ashkhabad, ‘Ishqábád)
> The first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár complex was built in Transcaspia, a Russian administrative subdivision east
> of the Caspian Sea and north of Iran. Only forty kilometers (just under twenty-five miles) north of the
> Iranian border, the new and prosperous city of Ashgabat, Transcaspia’s administrative center, attracted
> residents from both Russia and Iran. Among the Iranians were a number of Bahá’ís, who began settling
> in the city around 1884, shortly after its founding. Because of the prevalent hostility of their Shiite
> compatriots, many of the new Bahá’í residents avoided identifying themselves openly as Bahá’ís and
> endeavored to blend into the Iranian populace. In 1889, however, a crisis challenged their efforts. One
> of the most prominent Bahá’ís, Hájí Muhammad Ridá Isfáhání, was stabbed to death in the bazaar, the
> victim of a plot by local Iranian merchants, abetted by clerics who had come to the city from Khurasan
> expressly to assist. The Russian authorities, unlike their counterparts in Iran, took seriously the
> commission of a crime against a Bahá’í, investigated it, and eventually tried and convicted the
> murderers, who had proudly admitted to the killing. During the trial, when the judge asked the Bahá’í
> onlookers to sit in a separate section of the courtroom, many individuals identified themselves as
> Bahá’ís for the first time.
> 
> The events associated with the murder proved to be a milestone for the Bahá’ís of Ashgabat, who
> numbered about four hundred at the time. After 1890 Ashgabat provided them an environment in which
> they were a recognized religious community with a degree of freedom unknown in Iran or elsewhere in
> the East, living under a government that allowed them to seek converts among the Muslims (Russian
> law prohibited conversion by Christians to a non-Christian faith) and also assured that attacks against
> them would be punished. Increasing numbers of Bahá’ís came from Iran, including the families of men
> who had settled in the city earlier. Bahá’í women in Ashgabat, emancipated from the strictures that
> prevailed in predominantly Muslim countries, were free to participate in all community activities. The
> growing Bahá’í community had an incentive to develop social institutions of its own that would reflect
> its values, such as the equality of women and men and the necessity for moral and academic education
> for all.
> 
> As early as 1887, the Bahá’ís of Ashgabat began constructing their first communal buildings on a
> property, located near the center of the city, that had been envisioned as the site of a future
> Mashriqu’l-Adhkár and approved as such by Bahá’u’lláh. They also obtained a cemetery on a different
> site. In September 1902, at ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s request, Hájí Mírzá Muhammad Taqí Afnán, a cousin of the
> Báb, moved to Ashgabat to assume overall responsibility for the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár project. 24 As one of
> the leading merchants of Yazd, with business connections that stretched as far as Hong Kong, Hájí
> Mírzá Muhammad Taqí Afnán had become a commercial agent of the Russian government for southern
> Iran. He is widely known in historical accounts by the title Vakílu’d-Dawlih, meaning "Agent (or
> Representative) of the Government," as well as by the title he received from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Vakílu’l-
> Haqq, "Agent (Representative) of God." Hájí Mírzá Muhammad Taqí Afnán became the Mashriqu’l-
> Adhkár’s primary benefactor and remained in Ashgabat until the essential work on the building had
> been completed.
> 
> The general design for the Temple was ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s. Ustád ‘Alí-Akbar Banná of Yazd, a builder,
> developed the plans under ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s supervision. Work began in October 1902, with the foundation
> stone being laid in the presence of the governor-general of the province. The following year Ustád ‘Alí-
> Akbar Banná, on a visit to Yazd, was killed during an anti-Bahá’í pogrom. Subsequently, a Russian
> engineer named Volkov was hired to oversee the construction. The structure was essentially completed
> by the end of 1906, although the building’s external ornamentation was not finished until 1919.
> 
> An American Bahá’í architect, Charles Mason Remey, visited the Temple in 1909 and described it in
> detail.25 Located in the center of the city and visible from a great distance, the Temple had three
> sections: a central rotunda; an ambulatory surrounding it; and two series of exterior loggia, upper and
> lower, surrounding the entire building and opening onto the gardens. The rotunda was five stories high
> and topped by a hemispherical steel dome. A gallery was located directly above the ambulatory. Light
> from windows on the upper levels filled the interior. The exterior loggia on the first level could be
> reached both from the interior and exterior of the building. A pair of staircases on either side of the
> main entrance—a two-story portico surrounded by minarets, reminiscent of the Taj Mahal—provided
> access to the upper loggia. The interior of the dome was elaborately decorated with fretwork designs in
> relief. The third story contained plaques inscribed with a calligraphic representation of the invocation "O
> Glory of the All-Glorious" (referred to by Bahá’ís as "the Greatest Name").
> 
> Dependencies built before the Temple itself were soon augmented by new ones. In its most developed
> state, the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár included a travelers’ hospice; a school for boys (completed in 1897); a
> school for girls (completed in 1907); two kindergartens (founded in 1917–18); a medical dispensary; a
> library; and a public reading room. The dependencies served a thriving Bahá’í community of
> approximately three thousand adults and a thousand children. Ashgabat flourished as a center of Bahá’í
> learning and publishing. At its height the Bahá’í community of Ashgabat reached a degree of community
> development that remains unsurpassed to this day.
> 
> For a decade after the Russian Revolution in 1917, the
> Mashriqu’l-Adhkár complex functioned fully, and the Ashgabat
> Bahá’í community continued to grow. No longer prohibited by
> law from teaching their religion to Christians, the Bahá’ís began
> attracting the interest of residents of Russian origin. Restrictions
> on various activities, both communal and individual, were
> imposed gradually in 1927, however, and escalated in 1928. At
> that time, in line with its policy toward all religious buildings, the
> government expropriated the Temple. Closed for three months,
> it reopened after the community signed a five-year rental
> contract with the government. The state also took over the             Bahá’í House of Worship in Ashgabat, Russian
> Turkistan, before its destruction by an earthquake. ©
> running of the schools and kindergartens—even though, by law,          Bahá’í International Community. Bahá’í Media Bank
> their curricula had not included religion—and gradually the
> Bahá’í teachers were dismissed. A number of community members were either arrested or deported.
> 
> For the next several years, the Bahá’ís attempted to continue functioning as a community, operating
> within the confines of the legal guidelines. They were able to renew the rental contract for the House of
> Worship in 1933. Between 1934 and 1936 the restrictions were relaxed, and after complying with
> requirements to make extensive but unnecessary repairs to the Temple, the community regained its full
> use under a lease for an indefinite period. The respite from repression was brief, however. Beginning in
> late 1936, with terror gripping the entire country in a period that would see the loss of millions of lives,
> Bahá’ís were subjected to renewed attacks and arrests. In 1938 the community was forcibly
> dismantled. About five hundred Bahá’ís—all the adult men and a few particularly active women—were
> arrested and either deported, imprisoned, or exiled, many to the Pavlodar area of northern Kazakhstan.
> Women and children who were Iranian citizens were deported to Iran. The Temple was closed to use by
> Bahá’ís and turned into a museum. In 1948 a major earthquake that devastated large sections of the
> city severely damaged the building. After it was further damaged by heavy rains in the early 1960s, it
> was demolished. The site was later turned into a public park in which stands a statue of the eighteenth-
> century Turkmen poet Mahtum Quli (Magtim Guli).
> 
> Chicago
> The second Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, the Mother Temple of the West, was built in the heart of the North
> American continent. Inspired by the example of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in Ashgabat, the Bahá’ís of
> Chicago put the idea of the project forward in 1903 and received strong support from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. In
> 1906–07, after several years during which other concerns took precedence, the Chicago Bahá’ís gained
> a renewed commitment to the project, particularly through the efforts of Corinne True and through
> directions ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave to pilgrims who visited Him in early 1907.
> 
> The widening of the Chicago Bahá’ís’ efforts to include all the
> North American Bahá’ís in the project led to the beginnings of a
> national administrative organization. The planners chose a site
> for the Temple on the shores of Lake Michigan in Wilmette, just
> north of Chicago, and in 1908 began acquiring it in several
> increments. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá laid the cornerstone on 1 May 1912
> during His visit to North America. In 1920 the delegates to the
> annual convention of the Bahá’ís of the United States and
> Canada chose a design submitted by French Canadian architect
> Louis Bourgeois. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá subsequently approved the
> selection. For the next ten years, Bourgeois continued to work
> on the project, living in a studio on the property until his death
> in August 1930. The studio, located on Sheridan Road between
> the Temple and Lake Michigan, later became the National
> Hazíratu’l-Quds.
> 
> Construction of the Wilmette House of Worship took place in
> stages, each of which was attended by unexpected problems and
> delays as well as shortages of funds. After the project overcame
> early public opposition in the village of Wilmette, ground was
> broken on 21 March 1921. The initial work on the site continued
> Louis Bourgeois, architect of the Bahá’í House of
> Worship, Wilmette. National Bahá’í Archives, United for several years. Construction of the foundation involved sinking
> States.                                             nine caissons to a depth of approximately 36.5 meters (120
> feet), nearly 27.5 meters (90 feet) below the water level of the lake and a canal adjoining the property.
> A large Foundation Hall was built, enabling the Bahá’ís to hold a variety of events there, and modest
> improvements were made to the grounds. In January 1926 the North American Bahá’ís began a three-
> year plan to raise the funds needed to begin the superstructure. By early 1929 they had obtained only
> half of the four hundred thousand dollars needed. The remaining funds were raised by 31 March 1930—
> a remarkable achievement in a period remembered for the October 1929 stock market crash and the
> beginning of the Great Depression.
> 
> Shoghi Effendi included completion of the building’s exterior ornamentation among the major goals of
> his Seven Year Plan, 1937–44, the first of a series of campaigns for regional and worldwide expansion
> of the Bahá’í Faith. Although lingering economic depression, followed by wartime disruptions, slowed the
> progress of the work, donations continued to flow to Wilmette from Bahá’ís around the world.
> Completing the interior ornamentation and the landscaping were goals of a second Seven Year Plan,
> 1946–53, in which the American Bahá’í community was also responsible for expansion in Central and
> South America and in Europe. Confronting a budget shortfall that threatened the achievement of the
> goals, in 1949 Shoghi Effendi called for a period of austerity that required suspending certain national
> activities. In 1951 the interior ornamentation was finished ahead of schedule, and work on the
> landscaping began. The completed structure was dedicated in several ceremonies on 1 and 2 May 1953.
> 
> The building’s main-floor plan is that of a nine-pointed star set on a circular apron of eighteen steps
> leading upward to nine entryways flanked by tall columns. The structure—topped by a graceful dome,
> its nine decorative ribs meeting at the summit—is 58.2 meters (191 feet) high from the floor of the
> basement to the culmination of the dome ribs. The inner rotunda is surrounded by an ambulatory with
> steps leading up to a gallery.
> 
> The decoration of the Wilmette House of Worship is its most characteristic feature. Both the interior and
> exterior of the building are faced with finely decorated panels cast from a mixture of crushed white
> quartz, white quartz sand, and white cement. After a committee investigated cast stone, terra cotta, or
> aluminum alloy as materials for the exterior decoration of the Temple and rejected them as impractical,
> John J. Earley, an architectural sculptor from Washington DC proposed using a new type of concrete
> that could be molded into intricate shapes, thereby translating Bourgeois’s diaphanous plans into reality.
> 
> In a process devised by the Earley Studio, clay models were carved and used to make plaster of paris
> molds. From these, the concrete sections were individually cast around a framework of high-carbon
> steel rods. The resulting panels, produced at a plant in Rosslyn, Virginia, were taken out of their molds
> less than a day later. Workers then exposed the unique quartz aggregate by removing the top thin
> layer of cement paste. The panels are resistant to extremes of weather. They refract light, creating a
> visually dazzling effect particularly in the dome, with its inner and outer skin of decoration surrounding
> a curved glass armature. The configuration allows daylight to filter into the interior of auditorium,
> creating the effect of a floating web of light and concrete.
> 
> The exterior decoration of the building weaves together several themes: a celestial motif on the dome;
> leaves, tendrils, and flower forms; and symbols of several of the world’s great religions, including the
> Bahá’í nine-pointed star. Short texts from Bahá’u’lláh’s writings are carved over the nine doorways.
> 
> The interior ornamentation of the auditorium, designed by Alfred P. Shaw and produced by the Earley
> Studio, carries out the spirit of Bourgeois’s design, echoing the structure’s exterior ornamentation. Nine
> texts, different from those on the exterior, appear over the interior doorways. An inset design of the
> Greatest Name, which is lit at night, adorns the apex of the dome, over forty-one meters (135 feet)
> above the dark-red terrazzo floor. The auditorium seats nearly 1,200 people. Foundation Hall, located
> within the basement area, accommodates approximately 350 people for meetings and programs.
> 
> The gardens surrounding the Wilmette Temple are an integral part of the edifice. Landscape architect
> Hilbert E. Dahl began work on a plan as early as 1928. His design, one of three considered in 1951,
> was chosen after Shoghi Effendi recommended its implementation. Nine circular gardens surround the
> base of the building, serving as both transition spaces and areas for prayer and meditation. Each
> garden has its own unique character. Pools with fountains, flower beds, hedges, shrubs, and trees
> create a simple and dignified setting for the Temple. The properties surrounding the Temple comprise
> nearly three hectares (seven acres).
> 
> The House of Worship has become a well-known landmark and visitor attraction in the Chicago area,
> welcoming more than a quarter of a million visitors in 2007.26 In 1978 it was listed in the National
> Register of Historic Places, which lists sites worthy of preservation.
> By the 1980s water and weather damage had caused deterioration that required painstaking restoration
> and preservation—a phased project that has won local and international awards. A conservation master
> plan to preserve the House of Worship for a thousand years has been in development since 1999. A
> restoration plan developed in 2000 includes both the building and the grounds of the House of Worship.
> The plan includes restoring the gardens, which had gradually changed over the years, to the original
> design by Hilbert Dahl; replacing walkways and fountains; adding new lighting and irrigation systems;
> and replacing the monumental stairs, terraces, railings, and retaining walls around the building.
> 
> The first dependency of the Wilmette House of Worship, a Home
> for the Aged, was a goal of Shoghi Effendi’s Ten Year Plan,
> 1953–63. A suitable property less than a kilometer (half a mile)
> from the House of Worship was obtained in 1955, and the Bahá’í
> Home was inaugurated on 1 February 1959. It functioned on the
> site until 2002, when the National Spiritual Assembly (See:
> Administration, Bahá’í.Institutions of Bahá’í
> Administration.National Spiritual Assemblies), finding the Home
> no longer economically viable and impossible to modernize
> under existing building codes, decided to close it, planning "to
> acquire a larger and more modern facility in the future." 27
> 
> Development plans for the Wilmette Mashriqu’l-Adhkár and the
> national administrative complex as a whole include creation of a
> new visitors’ center. In addition to the National Hazíratu’l-Quds
> on Sheridan Road, a large building in nearby Evanston houses
> most of the Bahá’í National Center offices, with various other
> offices also located in the vicinity of the Temple.
> A springtime celebration for the Bahá’í House of
> The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in Wilmette has a singular place in Bahá’í     Worship in Wilmette, Illinois, USA. Date: 2003- 06- 03.
> Photographer: Vladimir Shilov. © Bahá’í International
> history. Shoghi Effendi describes it as "the most hallowed           Community. Bahá’í Media Bank
> Temple ever to be erected by the followers of Bahá’u’lláh and
> the crowning glory of the first Bahá’í century," unparalleled by the first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in Ashgabat
> or by any House of Worship "to be raised in succeeding centuries." 28
> 
> Kampala
> In 1953, with the Wilmette Temple finally completed, Shoghi Effendi began a new phase of Temple
> building. He included acquisition of a number of Temple sites and construction of two continental
> Temples—in Asia and Europe—among the goals of his Ten Year Plan, 1953–63. Tehran was to be the
> site of the Mother Temple of Asia; however, an outbreak of persecution of the Bahá’ís in Iran in 1955
> led Shoghi Effendi to replace construction of the Temple in Tehran with two new Temple projects, in
> Africa and Australia.
> 
> The first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár to be built during the Ten Year Plan is situated on 8.5 hectares (21.5 acres)
> of land on Kikaya Hill on the outskirts of Kampala, Uganda. The architect of the building, Charles Mason
> Remey, worked closely with Shoghi Effendi in developing the design. The architectural firm of Cobb,
> Powell, and Freeman—which designed the Bulange, the administrative center of the former kingdom of
> Buganda and one of Kampala’s most important buildings—adapted the design to local conditions and
> oversaw construction. Work on the foundations began in October 1957, a month before Shoghi Effendi’s
> death. The foundation stone was laid on 26 January 1958 as part of an intercontinental conference
> Shoghi Effendi had called. About one thousand Bahá’ís gathered for the ceremony in which Shoghi
> Effendi’s widow, Hand of the Cause of God Rúhíyyih Rabbani, and Músá Banání, the first Hand of the
> Cause of God in Africa, participated. During the construction period, engineering problems affecting the
> foundations and the dome had to be overcome. Three years later, on 14 and 15 January 1961, the
> building was dedicated by Rúhíyyih Rabbani. The inaugural service on Sunday, 15 January, brought to
> the Temple about fifteen hundred people, approximately two-thirds of whom were not Bahá’ís.
> 
> The design of the Mother Temple of Africa harmonizes closely with the landscape. In its profile the
> Temple resembles the shape of a traditional African hut. Its flaring eaves create a circular porch on the
> lowest exterior level of the building, providing protection from the seasonal extremes of weather—chill
> winds, driving rains, dust, and high heat—common to the area. The original design had no doors or
> walls on the veranda level; without these barriers, the distinction between the inside and outside of the
> Temple would have been blurred, extending the area of sacred space. However, the local architects
> found it necessary to change the design to protect the interior from the elements. The exterior walls of
> the ground floor of the structure are pierced by doors and by windows patterned with hexagonal units
> of glass. A series of piers supports the steel-reinforced concrete, nine-sided, unribbed dome, which is
> capped by a graceful lantern. Deferring to the need for ventilation during the extreme heat of the
> African summer, the windows in the upper story are louvered rather than glazed.
> 
> A distinctive feature is the use of color in decorating the House of Worship. On the exterior, green
> mosaic tiles cover the dome and the eaves. On the interior, the dome is blue, and the walls, glass
> windows, and decorations are in shades of white, green, and amber—colors that "seem to melt into the
> hues of the sun-drenched fields, hills, clouds, and sky outside." 29
> 
> At the time of its construction, the building, at nearly thirty-
> eight meters (124.7 feet), was the highest structure in East
> Africa. It has a seating capacity of more than four hundred, with
> over 515 square meters (5,550 square feet) of floor space.
> 
> The functioning of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár was interrupted under
> the Idi Amin regime, which banned the Bahá’í Faith along with
> twenty-six other religious organizations. Activities ceased on 16
> September 1977, but the building remained in Bahá’í hands,
> Bahá’í House of Worship, Kampala, Uganda. © Bahá’í enabling a few Bahá’ís to provide basic maintenance and
> International Community. Bahá’í Media Bank         protection during a period of increasing unrest and warfare. On
> the night of 10 April 1979, "a fierce artillery battle raged around Kikaya Hill." The following day,
> Tanzanian troops, supported by Ugandan exiles, captured Kampala from the forces loyal to Idi Amin.
> That morning, Uganda’s most distinguished native-born Bahá’í, Enoch Olinga, a Hand of the Cause,
> finding the House of Worship "unscathed," opened all nine doors for the first time in more than a year
> and a half.30
> 
> Although political and social instability in Uganda, including renewed civil war, continued until the mid-
> 1980s, the Bahá’ís regained the right to function administratively, and the National Spiritual Assembly
> was restored in April 1981. By that time the House of Worship was badly in need of renovation,
> particularly because rainwater had leaked into the walls and the dome. Work proceeded slowly,
> hindered by trying conditions in the country and at the Temple site itself. The entire building, including
> the interior of the dome, was finally repainted, and a transparent waterproof coating was applied to the
> exterior of the dome. However, the waterproofing, designed for European climates, was unable to
> withstand the African extremes of sun and violent rainstorms, and leaks soon reappeared. The
> ineffective coating also began to darken. In 1990–91 a crack injection method of waterproofing,
> economical but largely unknown, was undertaken, resulting in partial improvement. With assistance
> from volunteers who had worked on renovations at the Wilmette Temple, another round of repairs—
> cleaning, applying fresh grout to the mosaic tiles, and waterproofing with a coating called "silokane"—
> led to lasting resolution of the leakage problems by the end of 1992. The Temple was also thoroughly
> repainted and resealed.
> 
> Further extensive renovations took place in 2001 in preparation for celebrations commemorating the
> fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of the Bahá’í Faith in Uganda. On 2 August 2001, an audience
> of two thousand people at the House of Worship heard the State Minister for Health read a statement
> from Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni, that, according to a news account of the event, praised the
> Bahá’í Faith’s record in the country for being years ahead of the government’s in bringing "people
> together irrespective of their faith, race, color or ethnicity" and in its commitment to "the
> empowerment of women."31
> 
> Sydney
> Shoghi Effendi refers to the second House of Worship built according to his instructions as "the Mother
> Temple of the whole Pacific area" and "the Mother Temple of the Antipodes." 32 The design is another
> collaborative effort between him and Charles Mason Remey. Its specifications were developed by John
> Brogan, a Sydney architect. The Temple site is located on property that comprises approximately nine
> hectares (some twenty-two acres) on a hill in Ingleside, twenty kilometers (12.4 miles) north of
> Sydney. Excavations began in December 1957. A foundation ceremony on 22 March 1958 included the
> participation of Hand of the Cause Clara Dunn, who with her husband, Hyde Dunn (posthumously
> appointed a Hand of the Cause), had brought the Bahá’í Faith to Australia in 1920. Construction
> proceeded more slowly than anticipated because of labor problems and the unusual technical
> requirements of the design. The building was dedicated on 16 and 17 September 1961.
> 
> Like its counterpart in Wilmette, the Sydney House of Worship is
> distinguished by the innovative mixture of crushed quartz and
> concrete used in the design. The structure, which has a seating
> capacity of six hundred, is topped by a ribbed dome that
> reaches 39.6 meters (130 feet) above the basement floor. The
> building has three stories: a ground level containing nine
> doorways flanked by capped piers; a clerestory level with
> Palladian-style windows; and a ribbed dome, topped by a lantern
> that was set in place by a helicopter, another innovation in
> The Bahá’í House of Worship in Sydney, Australia. Australian construction. Pinnacles adorn the exterior buttressing
> Date: 1980s. © Bahá’í International Community.
> Bahá’í Media Bank                                 of the second level and provide a counterpoint to the decoration
> surrounding the windows. The decorative pierced designs allow
> the sun to cast complex shadows into the interior of the Temple. The lace-like decoration is echoed in
> the balustrades of the gallery level of the interior.
> 
> The Temple is set in an area of natural bush, and its gardens feature an impressive variety of native
> plants. A number of buildings—including a visitor's center, bookshop, and administrative offices—and a
> picnic area are located on the grounds surrounding the Temple.
> 
> A landmark on Sydney’s scenic northern coast, the Temple, again like its counterpart on the shores of
> Lake Michigan in Wilmette, is often used as a navigational point for ships and aircraft. The Sydney
> House of Worship attracts more than twenty thousand Australian and international visitors annually.
> 
> Frankfurt am Main
> In April 1953 Shoghi Effendi called for the German Bahá’í community to build the Mother Temple of
> Europe in Frankfurt am Main during the Ten Year Plan. Before construction could begin, serious
> obstacles had to be overcome. Several potential sites were found, but permits to build were denied
> after lengthy administrative processes. In each case, church authorities had expressed opposition to the
> proposals. The opposition led to increased public awareness of the project and to calls for religious
> tolerance. Finally, in 1959, the Bahá’ís were able to obtain permission to build on a site in the village of
> Langenhain, now part of the town of Hofheim, in the Taunus region about twenty-five kilometers (15.5
> miles) west of Frankfurt. Hand of the Cause Amelia Collins laid the cornerstone on 20 November 1960,
> and the Temple was dedicated on 4 July 1964, with Hand of the Cause Rúhíyyih Rabbani representing
> the Universal House of Justice.
> 
> The design by Teuto Rocholl, a Frankfurt architect, was chosen through a competition and approved by
> Shoghi Effendi and the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Germany and Austria. The design
> reflects the postwar interest in buildings with simple post and lintel structures and walls of glass.
> Elevated above the flat plain by nine symmetrically arranged single flights of steps, the circular building
> is circumscribed by a walkway. Nine entrance doors open onto an ambulatory enclosed by floor-to-
> ceiling windows, which afford sweeping views of the Temple property of nearly three hectares (7.3
> acres) and the surrounding countryside. Nine doors lead from the ambulatory into a central rotunda
> seating around five hundred persons. The rotunda is capped by a dome, which rests on twenty-seven
> pillars. The dome is pierced throughout its surface by 540 diamond-shaped glazed openings that allow
> multiple points of light into the interior. The lantern atop the dome is also open, its windows framing an
> inset design of the Greatest Name. The overall structure is twenty-eight meters (ninety-two feet) high.
> 
> The Universal House of Justice has called for the building of a
> home for the aged as the first dependency of the German House
> of Worship.
> 
> The Bahá’ís of Germany commemorated their centenary in 2005
> by holding, among several major events, a reception on 22 April
> 2005 at the Bahá’í National Center on the grounds of the House
> of Worship. The participants included the architect, Teuto
> Rocholl, as well representatives of the federal and European
> parliaments, the state of Hesse, and the nearby cities of
> A winter view of the Bahá’í House of Worship at
> Hofheim and Wiesbaden. Speeches by the mayor of Hofheim and Langenhain, Germany. Date: 2005- 05- 31. © Bahá’í
> others indicated the extent to which public attitudes toward the   International Community. Bahá’í Media bank
> 
> Bahá’ís and the House of Worship had shifted in a region where the Bahá’í Faith was once banned
> (1937–45, under the Nazi regime) and where its initial efforts to build a Temple were hindered by
> religious prejudice.
> 
> Panama City
> Since 1963, the Universal House of Justice has continued to plan the building of continental Houses of
> Worship. The next series of Temples built reflects the expansion of the Bahá’í Faith in Central America,
> the Pacific Islands, and the Indian subcontinent in the second half of the twentieth century. The
> Universal House of Justice included the construction of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in Panama among the
> international goals of its Nine Year Plan, 1964–73, and the construction of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkárs in
> India and Samoa in its Five Year Plan, 1974–79.
> 
> The Mother Temple of Latin America sits high atop Cerro Sonsonate, at an altitude of 225 meters (738
> feet), eleven kilometers (6.8 miles) north of Panama City, Panama. The site comprises 11.6 hectares
> (28.7 acres) and offers scenic views of the city of Panama and the sea. Hand of the Cause Rúhíyyih
> Rabbani laid the cornerstone on 8 October 1967. Construction began over two years later, on 1
> December 1969, and the Temple dedication took place on 29 and 30 April 1972, with Rúhíyyih Rabbani
> representing the Universal House of Justice.
> 
> The Universal House of Justice selected the Temple’s innovative design, the work of Peter Tillotson, a
> British architect, from about fifty international submissions. Robert W. McLaughlin, dean emeritus of the
> School of Architecture of Princeton University, served as the Universal House of Justice’s architectural
> consultant for the project.
> 
> The Temple’s parabolic dome, built on the principle of a shell, is an achievement that depended on
> technology that was new at the time of its construction. The structural design of the dome is the result
> of computer technology, and its extreme thinness, only about ten centimeters (four inches), relied on
> new materials and techniques. The concrete of the dome was applied through the "Gunite process,"
> used in Panama for the first time, in which dry sand and cement are forced through a rubber hose and
> mixed with just enough water to create a barely moist concrete mixture. Once the concrete had set, the
> exterior of the dome was faced with white glazed tiles.
> 
> In consideration of Panama’s steamy climate, the building’s openings are unglazed, allowing the air to
> cool the atmosphere inside and providing stunning vistas. Mahogany seats rest on a terrazzo floor.
> Abstract designs in red marble chips adorn the dome’s supporting walls, recalling the elaborate
> decorations on the buildings of the ancient Americas. Nine ornamental iron gates lead to the interior
> space, which seats 550 people.
> 
> On the second story, a balcony overlooks the central auditorium.
> The view into the interior of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár is highlighted
> by the abstract mathematical patterning of the eighteen
> interconnecting ribs that create the decoration of the dome. The
> overall height of the structure is approximately twenty-eight
> meters (ninety-two feet).
> 
> Canadian architect Siamak Hariri, noting the influence of the
> Panama House of Worship on his creative team when they were
> developing the design for the House of Worship in Chile (See
> The Bahá’í House of Worship in Panama City, Panama.
> © Bahá’í International Community. Bahá’í Media Bank Section: Houses of Worship around the World.Santiago), has
> provided this evocative description: "We also love the way the
> Panama Temple is so understated. It transcends its own sense of itself, sitting majestically, quietly yet
> confidently connected to the landscape." 33
> 
> Apia
> The Mother Temple of the Pacific Islands in Samoa—like the Temples in Uganda, Panama, and Australia
> —is situated at a high elevation near the country’s largest population center. The grounds at Tiapapata
> on the island of Upolu overlook the town of Apia some 14.5 kilometers (nine miles) away on the coast.
> The property comprises nearly nine hectares (twenty-two acres) at an altitude of approximately six
> hundred meters (1,900 feet).
> 
> The foundation stone of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár was laid on 27 January 1979 by Hand of the Cause
> Rúhíyyih Rabbani, representing the Universal House of Justice, and by His Highness Susuga Malietoa
> Tanumafili II, Head of State of Samoa, the first ruling head of state in the world to become a Bahá’í.
> Both also participated in the dedication of the House of Worship on 1 September 1984.
> 
> Architect Hossein Amanat—an Iranian-born Canadian who later designed many of the buildings at the
> Bahá’í World Center in Haifa, Israel—utilized the form of the roof of the traditional Samoan house, the
> fale, and the open plan of the fale itself in conceptualizing the design of the Temple. The white, mosaic-
> tiled dome rests atop nine pairs of buttresses clad in imported Australian granite in soft red tones.
> Through use of modern construction techniques, the dome’s nine ribs of mirrored glass, the graceful
> arched windows, and the wide expanse of glazing over each portal seemingly draw light through the
> structure itself and provide an iridescent effect when the building is lit at night. The shell of the dome
> and the internal structure are of white reinforced concrete, bushhammered to a soft texture and
> accented with native ifilele wood joinery. The flooring is a warm-red quarry tile. The building rests on a
> raised base and measures thirty-one meters (102 feet) from the basement to the top of the dome.
> 
> The main hall seats five hundred people; a cantilevered mezzanine that rings the perimeter provides
> additional seating for two hundred, including a choir. At the apex of the dome, the ribs converge to
> create a pattern of light, in the center of which is set the symbol of the Greatest Name. Quotations
> from the writings of Bahá’u’lláh are carved over the doorways and on the decorative wood paneling
> inside the House of Worship.
> 
> Construction materials were imported from many parts of the Pacific: cement and steel from Japan and
> New Zealand; granite from Australia; white aggregate from the tiny island nation of Niue; and white
> sand from New Zealand.
> 
> The grounds of the Temple include extensive
> gardens with more than sixty species of
> indigenous plants and trees; an open-air visitors’
> center with a large meeting hall, a bookshop, and
> an office for Temple guides; a caretaker’s
> residence; and the National Hazíratu’l-Quds. In
> addition to regular weekly devotional programs
> featuring a notable Samoan choir, special services
> are held at the House of Worship annually on
> such occasions as United Nations Day and
> International Women’s Day.
> 
> New Delhi
> Bahá’ís from the island of Savai'i singing on the grounds of the Bahá’í
> Bahapur, on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, is   House of Worship in Samoa during the jubilee celebrations of the Samoan
> Bahá’í community in 2004. Date: 2004- 11- 30. © Bahá’í International
> the site of the Mother Temple of the Indian         Community. Bahá’í Media Bank
> subcontinent. Hand of the Cause Rúhíyyih
> Rabbani, representing the Universal House of Justice, laid the foundation stone on 17 October 1977,
> and construction began on 21 April 1980. The Temple’s dedication on 24 December 1986 attracted
> eight thousand participants from 114 nations. Once again Rúhíyyih Rabbani represented the Universal
> House of Justice.
> 
> The building was conceived by its architect, Fariborz Sahba, a Canadian of Iranian birth, as a nine-
> petaled lotus that appears to float in a series of nine pools. The lotus form is a symbol of spirituality
> and beauty that appears in the mythology of all the religions of India. In using this form, the architect
> both acknowledges the basic beliefs of these religions and suggests that, with the advent of Bahá’u’lláh,
> a new "Flower hath begun to bloom."34
> 
> The structure has five sets of "petals"—three external and two
> internal—made of thin, concrete shells. The first set forms the
> entrance leaf and opens outward to create the nine entrances
> leading into the building. The second set of petals points inward
> to cover the ambulatory, and a third set forms the central hall,
> which is covered by an interior dome shaped by the two
> remaining sets of internal petals. The sets of petals were built by
> a unique technique of climbing wooden shutters, which were
> filled with white concrete in one continuous operation, avoiding
> any joint. When the external petals were completed, each one
> The Bahá’í House of Worship in New Delhi, India. ©   was faced with a double curvature of marble quarried in Greece
> Bahá’í International Community. Bahá’í Media Bank
> and cut in Italy.
> 
> Construction of the Temple did not depend on modern, highly sophisticated equipment and technology.
> Rather, it utilized one of India’s most abundant resources: people. As many as eight hundred
> individuals, including entire families of workers, were involved as technicians, engineers, artisans, and
> laborers in meeting the exacting demands of a design that includes not even one straight line and that
> required a constant search for innovative solutions. Housing facilities, a daycare center, and a primary
> school were established to meet the needs of the workers, whose hours were adjusted during the hot
> summer months to allow work to be done under floodlights in the relatively cool evening hours, rather
> than during the extreme heat of the day. The workers brought to their tasks traditional techniques,
> equipment, and pride in artisanship—low-tech approaches to a peculiarly high-tech project.
> 
> A central set of stairs brings the visitor to the building. Walkways suspended above the pools, which act
> as a natural cooling system for the entire edifice, provide access to the interior. The Prayer Hall, or
> auditorium, seats thirteen hundred, with additional seating that expands its capacity to twenty-five
> hundred. The structure is more than forty meters tall (131 feet) and sits on nearly eleven hectares
> (26.7 acres) of land.
> 
> By 1992 the Temple had become one of the most visited buildings in India, and by 2007, when it had
> 4.6 million visitors, one of the most visited buildings in the world. The architect and the building have
> won international recognition, including awards from the United States–based International Federation
> of Religious Art and Architecture (1987); from the Institute of Structural Engineers of the United
> Kingdom (1988), for its structural design; from the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America,
> for its exterior lighting (1988); and from the American Concrete Institute (1990). The New Delhi
> Temple has received extensive international media attention; has been featured in numerous television
> and video documentaries; and has been discussed at many international conferences, such as Yale
> University’s symposium on sacred architecture in October 2007, at which Fariborz Sahba delivered a talk
> on "Faith and Form: Contemporary Space for Pilgrimage and Worship."
> 
> Santiago
> In April 2001 the Universal House of Justice, as one of the
> international goals of its Five Year Plan, 2001–06, called for
> commencing construction of the Mother Temple of South
> America in Santiago, Chile. Shoghi Effendi had mentioned the
> location in a message to the annual convention of the Bahá’ís of
> South America in 1953. In July 2002 the National Spiritual
> Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Chile invited the submission of
> designs. The Universal House of Justice considered 185
> submissions, narrowing the field to four before announcing the
> final selection on 12 June 2003. Tendered by Siamak Hariri of
> the Toronto firm Hariri Pontarini Architects, the design features a
> dome clad in translucent Spanish alabaster and forged glass that Light shines from within a model of the new Bahá’í
> is intended, in Hariri’s words, to be "a crystallizing of light-as-    Temple chosen for Chile. © Bahá’í International
> Community. Bahá’í Media Bank
> expression": "This living Temple of Light, which will glow with a
> dreamlike serenity, will explore the entire range of the phenomena of light and shadow in continual
> interaction." 35 Likened by an architectural critic to a "hovering cloud, an architectural mist,"36 the
> design immediately garnered praise in numerous architectural publications and in 2007 received a
> prestigious award from Architect magazine. The structure is to be 30.4 meters (approximately 100 feet)
> in both height and width, with an auditorium seating six hundred people.
> 
> The Temple site north of Santiago, in the foothills of the Andes, is 110 hectares (nearly 272 acres) in
> size. The Temple itself, projected to cost US$27 million, will be built on a hilltop, surrounded by gardens
> and grounds. Work on structural components of the building began in Canada in 2007. Construction of
> the foundations is tentatively scheduled to begin in October 2008.
> 
> FUTURE PLANS
> Shoghi Effendi approved architectural plans for two Temples that have yet to be built. Construction of
> the first, a Temple near Tehran, has been repeatedly deferred because of persecutions directed against
> the Bahá’ís of Iran. Shoghi Effendi also approved plans for a Temple in Haifa that were drawn by
> Charles Mason Remey, whom ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had chosen as the architect. The site, located on a
> promontory of Mount Carmel (See: Bahá’í World Center.Development under Shoghi Effendi), is currently
> landscaped and marked by an obelisk.
> 
> In the same April 2001 message in which it called for building the Chile Temple, the Universal House of
> Justice stated that, in accordance with a new epoch in the development of the Bahá’í Faith, the
> completion of the process of erecting continental Houses of Worship would prepare the way for the next
> stage of Mashriqu’l-Adhkár development: construction of national Houses of Worship, as circumstances
> allow. Each National Spiritual Assembly, wherever possible, has purchased a site for the Mother Temple
> of its nation—in 2007 numbering 123 Temple sites around the world.
> 
> Authors: Julie Badiee and the Editors
> 
> © 2009 National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. Terms of Use.
> 
> Notes:
> 1. Bahá’u’lláh, The Kitáb-i-Aqdas: The Most Holy Book, 1st pocket-size ed. (Wilmette, IL, USA: Bahá’í
> Publishing Trust, 1993, 2005 printing) ¶115: 61.
> 2. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, comp. Research Department of the Universal
> House of Justice, trans. Committee at the Bahá’í World Center and Marzieh Gail, 1st pocket-size ed.
> (Wilmette, IL, USA: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1996, 2004 printing) 55.1: 100.
> 3. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections 59.2: 101.
> 4. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections 64.1: 106; ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, "Utterances of Abdul-Baha upon the Mashrak-el-
> Azkar," Star of the West 6 (1916–17): 136–37; ‘Abdu’l-Bahá quoted in The Bahá’í Magazine: Star of the
> West 21 (1930–31): 20.
> 5. Shoghi Effendi, Bahá’í Administration: Selected Messages, 1922–1932 , 1974 ed. (Wilmette, IL, USA:
> Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1974, 1998 printing) 184; Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, new. ed (Wilmette, IL,
> USA: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1974, 2004 printing) 350.
> 6. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá during His Visit to
> the United States and Canada in 1912, comp. Howard MacNutt, new ed. (Wilmette, IL, USA: Bahá’í
> Publishing Trust, 2007) 1: 90.
> 7. Bahá’u’lláh, Kitáb-i-Aqdas ¶115: 61; q15: 111.
> 8. Bahá’u’lláh, Kitáb-i-Aqdas ¶150: 73–74.
> 9. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in The Compilation of Compilations, comp. Universal House of Justice, vol. 2
> (Maryborough, VIC: Bahá’í Publications Australia, 1991) 1415: 75.
> 10. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections 60.1: 101–02.
> 11. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá quoted in [Shoghi Effendi], Messages to the Antipodes: Communications from Shoghi
> Effendi to the Bahá’í Communities of the Antipodes, ed. Graham Hassall (Mona Vale, NSW: Bahá’í
> Publications Australia, 1997) 439; Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By 351.
> 12. Bahá’u’lláh, Kitáb-i-Aqdas ¶31: 31.
> 13. Shoghi Effendi, The Light of Divine Guidance, vol. 1: The Messages from the Guardian of the Bahá’í
> Faith to the Bahá’ís of Germany and Austria (Hofheim-Langenhain, Ger.: Bahá’í-Verlag, 1982) 247.
> 14. Shoghi Effendi, Light of Divine Guidance, vol. 1: 232.
> 15. Shoghi Effendi, Light of Divine Guidance, vol. 1: 216.
> 16. Shoghi Effendi, Light of Divine Guidance, vol. 1: 215, 245–46.
> 17. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation 1: 226.
> 18. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation 2: 98.
> 19. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By 255; Shoghi Effendi, This Decisive Hour: Messages from Shoghi Effendi
> to the North American Bahá’ís, 1932–1946 (Wilmette, IL, USA: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 2002) 62.1: 43.
> 20. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Tablets of the Divine Plan, 1st pocket-size ed. (Wilmette, IL, USA: Bahá’í Publishing
> Trust, 1993, 2006 printing) 11.9: 78.
> 21. Louis Bourgois quoted in Bruce W. Whitmore, The Dawning Place: The Building of a Temple, the
> Forging of the North American Bahá’í Community (Wilmette, IL, USA: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1984) 84.
> 22. From remarks by Rúhíyyih Rabbani quoted in "The Laying of the Foundation Stone of the Mother Temple
> of the Indian Sub-continent," The Bahá’í World, vol. 17: 1976–79 (Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1981) 369.
> 23. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation 1: 226.
> 24. The chronology for Hájí Mírzá Muhammad Taqí Afnán’s involvement with the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in
> Ashgabat is based on dates given in a contemporary account by him, published in Muhammad ‘Alí Faydí,
> Khándán-i-Afnán (Tehran: Mu’assasiy-i-Millíy-i-Matbú’át-i-Amrí, 127/1970–71) 108–09. A somewhat
> different chronology appears in other publications.
> 25. Charles Mason Remey, "The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of ‘Ishqábád," Bahá’í Year Book [The Bahá’í World], vol.
> 1: 1925–26 (New York: Bahá’í Publishing Committee, 1926) 79–81; also excerpted in Shoghi Effendi, God
> Passes By 300–01.
> 26. Visitor totals for 2008 are unavailable because, owing to construction, the Visitor Center was closed
> midway through the year. The estimated number of visitors for the year is over two hundred thousand.
> 27. Letter from the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States to the American Bahá’í
> community, 20 Nov. 2001.
> 28. Shoghi Effendi, This Decisive Hour 108.1: 80–81.
> 29. Isobel Sabri, "Hand of the Cause Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum Dedicates Mother Temple of Africa,"
> The Bahá’í World, vol. 13: 1954–63 (Haifa: The Universal House of Justice, 1970) 713.
> 30. Rúhíyyih [Rabbani], "Enoch Olinga: 1926–1979," The Bahá’í World, vol. 18: 1979–83 (Haifa: Bahá’í
> World Centre, 1986) 631.
> 31. Quoted in "Baha’i Community of Uganda Celebrates Its 50th Anniversary," Bahá’í World News Service 5
> Aug. 2001, http://news.bahai.org/story/135  (accessed 16 Jan. 2009).
> 32. [Shoghi Effendi], Messages to the Antipodes: Communications from Shoghi Effendi to the Bahá’í
> Communities of the Antipodes, ed. Graham Hassall (Mona Vale, NSW: Bahá’í Publications Australia, 1997)
> 439, 441.
> 33. "Casting Light on Design of Temple," Bahá’í World News Service 15 July 2003,
> http://news.bahai.org/story/229    (accessed 16 Jan. 2009).
> 34. Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, trans. Shoghi Effendi, 1st pocket-size ed.
> (Wilmette, IL, USA: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1983, 2005 printing) 151: 320.
> 35. Siamak Hariri, "A Temple of Light," The Baha’i Temple for South America, http://temple.cl.bahai.org/
> (accessed 16 Jan. 2009).
> 36. "Translucent Temple for Chile," Bahá’í World News Service13 June 2003,
> http://news.bahai.org/story/223     (accessed 16 Jan. 2009).
> 
> Understanding the Citations
> Citing Bahá’í Encyclopedia Project Articles
> 
> Other Sources and Related Reading:
> Among the authoritative Bahá’í writings concerning the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, see: Bahá’u’lláh, Kitáb-i-Aqdas
> ¶31: 31, ¶115: 61, ¶150: 73–74, q15: 111; ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections 55–64: 100–107; ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The
> Promulgation of Universal Peace 89–92, 97–98, 225–28; Lights of Guidance: A Bahá’í Reference File, comp.
> Helen Hornby, 6th ed. (New Delhi, India: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1999) 1375: 416, 2051–71: 606–12;
> Shoghi Effendi, Bahá’í Administration 181–87; Shoghi Effendi, The Light of Divine Guidance, vol. 1: 232,
> 245–46, 263; Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By 348–53; "The Mashriqu’l-Adhkar: ‘The Dawning Place of God’s
> Praise,’" Bahá’í Year Book [The Bahá’í World], vol. 1: 59–64. See also the following sources in Persian:
> Asadu’lláh Fádil Mázandarání, Amr va khalq, 4 vols. in 2 (1954–74; Hofheim–Langenhain, Ger.: Bahá’í-
> Verlag, 1985) 4: 147–53; ‘Abdu’l-Hamíd Ishráq-Khávarí, Ganjíniy-i-hudúd va-ahkám (New Delhi: Bahá’í
> Publishing Trust, 1980) 230–40. Statements about the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, taken from
> letters and talks, are compiled in "Utterances of Abdul-Baha upon the Mashrak-el-Azkar" and "Addresses of
> Abdul-Baha in America upon the Mashrak-el-Azkar," Star of the West 6 (1916): 133–43, 144–49, and
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, "Extracts on the Institution of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár," unpublished compilation from the
> Universal House of Justice, 1985, published in German translation, Das Bahá’í-Haus der Andacht, Hofheim-
> Langenhain, 1988. For statements of Shoghi Effendi concerning the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, see "Extracts from
> the Writings and from Letters of the Guardian and the Universal House of Justice on the Arts and
> Architecture," prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, Haifa, 1984.
> See also Julie Badiee, An Earthly Paradise: Bahá’í Houses of Worship around the World (Oxford: George
> Ronald, 1992); Duane L. Herrmann, "Houses As Perfect As Is Possible," World Order ns 26.1 (1994): 17–
> 31; V[ahid] Rafati and F[ariburz] Sahba, "Bahai Faith IX. Bahai Temples," in "Bahai Faith Part 2,"
> Encyclopedia Iranica, ed. Ehsan Yarshater, http://www.iranica.com/newsite/     (accessed 16 Jan. 2009);
> Robert Weinberg, "The Dawning Place: Introduction to the History, Purpose and Function of the Bahá’í
> House of Worship," World Faiths Insight ns 12 (1986): 26–29; Alan Wilcox, "Heart of the Town," Herald of
> the South 2 (1985): 26–31; Bahá’í International Community, "Bahá’í Houses of Worship,"
> http://info.bahai.org/houses-of-worship.htmlhttp://info.bahai.org/houses-of-worship.html      (accessed 16
> Jan. 2009).
> On individual Bahá’í Houses of Worship, information for this article was received from Firuz Kazemzadeh
> and Muhammad Afnan (Ashgabat); Barbara Geiger, Erik Anderson, Pamela Barrett, Pamela Mondschein,
> Karen Bermann-Mazibuko, and Roger Dahl (Wilmette); John Anglin, Secretary, National Spiritual Assembly
> of the Bahá’ís of Uganda, who contributed portions of the text (Kampala); Bernhard Westerhoff, Secretariat,
> National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Germany (Frankfurt); Lilian Ala’i of the National Spiritual
> Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Samoa (Apia); and Fariborz Sahba (India). In general the best accounts of the
> planning and building of individual Bahá’í Houses of Worship can be found in the section "The Institution of
> the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár" in the original series of The Bahá’í World (volumes 1–20); see, for example, The
> Bahá’í World, vol. 20: 1986–92 (Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1998) 731–53. Relevant material may be
> found in other sections of The Bahá’í World, such as the "Survey of Current Bahá’í Activities in the East and
> West" by Horace Holley; see, for example, "The First Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of the West," The Bahá’í World, vol.
> 3: 1928–30 (New York: Bahá’í Publishing Committee, 1930) 46–48.
> On the Bahá’í House of Worship in Ashgabat, see Nancy Ackerman and Graham Hassall, "Russia and the
> Bahá’í Faith: A Historic Connection," The Bahá’í World, 1998–99: An International Record (Haifa: Bahá’í
> World Centre, 2000) 157–92; Hippolyte Dreyfus, Une institution béhaïe: le Machreqou’l-Āzkār d’Achqābād
> (Paris: Leroux, 1909), reproduced in The Bahá’í World, vol. 8: 1938–40 (Wilmette, IL, USA: Bahá’í
> Publishing Committee, 1942) 525–32; A. A. Lee, "The Rise of the Bahá’í Community of ‘Ishqábád," Bahá’í
> Studies 5 (1979): 1–13; Moojan Momen, "Esslemont’s Survey of the Bahá’í World, 1919–1920," Bahá’ís in
> the West, ed. Peter Smith, Studies in the Bábí and Bahá’í Religions 14 (Los Angeles: Kalimát, 2004) 72–76;
> Moojan Momen, "The Baha’i Community of Ashkhabad: Its Social Basis and Importance in Baha’i History,"
> Cultural Change and Continuity in Central Asia, ed. Shirin Akiner (London: Kegan, 1991) 278–305;
> contemporary accounts in Horace Holley’s "Survey of Current Bahá’í Activities in the East and West" in
> various Bahá’í World volumes, such as the section called "Turkestan" in The Bahá’í World, vol. 5: 1932–34
> (New York: Bahá’í Publishing Committee, 1936) 33–43; V[ahid] Rafati, "Bahai Faith VI. The Bahai
> Community of Ashkhabad (‘Ešqābād)," in "Bahai Faith Part 2," Encyclopedia Iranica, ed. Ehsan Yarshater,
> http://www.iranica.com/newsite/      (accessed 16 Jan. 2009); Bruce W. Whitmore, "The City of Love,"
> Bahá’í News 532 (1975): 6–12; Ustad `Ali Akbar Banna, Tarikh-i ‘Ishqabad (History of the Baha’is of
> Ashgabat [Turkmenistan]), 2000, H-Bahai, http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/arabic/vol4/banna/ashgabat.htm
> (accessed 16 Jan. 2009); Mirza Abu’l-Fadl, "Letter Concerning ‘Ishqabad," Zindigani-i Mirza Abu'l-Fadl
> Gulpaygani, by Ruhu’llah Mihrabkhani (Tehran: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1978) 171-89, rpt. 2000, H-Bahai,
> http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/areprint/vol4/ishqabad/ishqabad.htm        (accessed 16 Jan. 2009); and
> Asadu’lláh Fádil Mázandarání, Táríkh zuhúru’l-haqq, vol. 8 (Tehran: Mu’assasiy-i-Millíy-i-Matbú‘át-i-Amrí,
> 131–32/1975–76) part 2, 998–99.
> For a general history of the construction of the Bahá’í House of Worship in Wilmette, see Bruce Whitmore’s
> The Dawning Place. For an examination of the development of musical and devotional life in the American
> Bahá’í community and the nature of worship in the Wilmette Temple, see R. Jackson Armstrong-Ingram,
> Music, Devotions, and Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, Studies in Bábí and Bahá’í History 4 (Los Angeles: Kalimát,
> 1987). On the Wilmette Temple, see also Robert H. Stockman, The Bahá’í Faith in America, vol. 2: Early
> Expansion, 1900–1912 (Oxford: George Ronald, 1995) 275–88; The Baha’i Temple: House of Worship of a
> World Faith: Commemorating Completion of Exterior Ornamentation (Wilmette, IL, USA.: National Spiritual
> Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada, 1942); For the Celebration of My Praise:
> Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Dedication of the First Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of the Western World
> to Public Worship, Wilmette, Illinois May 1953–May 2003 (Wilmette, IL, USA: Bahá’í Publishing Trust,
> 2003); Hilbert E. Dahl, "Baha’i Temple Gardens," Landscape Architecture 43.4 (1953): 144–49; Allan
> McDaniel, The Spell of the Temple (New York: Vantage Press, 1953); Patricia Murphy, "It Couldn’t Be Done
> Today," Modern Concrete 42.12 (1979): 40–45; Bahá’ís of the United States, "Bahá’í House of Worship for
> the North American Continent," http://www.bahai.us/bahai-temple        (accessed 16 Jan. 2009). Archival
> sources on the Wilmette Temple include the Louis Bourgeois Papers, National Bahá’í Archives, United
> States.
> On the House of Worship in Australia, see National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Australia, "House of
> Worship," http://www.bahai.org.au/scripts/WebObjects.exe/BNO.woa/wa/pages?
> page=who_we_are/house_of_worship.html (accessed 16 Jan. 2009); Madge Featherstone and Kaye
> Waterman, "The Dunns—Keys to Their Success," 75 Years of the Bahá’í Faith in Australasia: Proceedings
> from the 1995 National Bahá’í Studies Conference (Roseberry, NSW: Association for Bahá’í Studies
> Australia, 1996) 29–43.
> On the House of Worship in Germany, see Nationaler Geistiger Rat der Bahá’í in Deutschland e.V., "Das
> Haus der Andacht," http://www.bahai.de/haus-der-andacht/ (accessed 16 Jan. 2009); "Senior
> Government Official Praises Baha’i Contributions," Bahá’í World News Service 31 May 2005,
> http://news.bahai.org/story/374 accessed 16 Jan. 2009); "Sommerfest in Germany Hits International High
> Notes," Bahá’í World News Service 16 Aug. 2006 http://www.news.bahai.org/story/471       (accessed 16
> Jan. 2009).
> On the House of Worship in Panama, see Raquel de Constante, unpublished article on the Panama House of
> Worship, n.d.; Peter Tillotson, "Nine Gateways to God: British Design for a Temple in Panama," Concrete
> 6.11 (1972): 22–24; Comunidad Nacional Bahá’í de Panamá, http://oalexis.free.fr/panamabahai/index.html
> (accessed 16 Jan. 2009).
> On the House of Worship in Samoa, see The Dawning Place of the Pacific: Bahá’í House of Worship (Apia:
> National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Samoa, 1985); “The Bahá’í House of Worship Samoa,”
> http://www.bahaitemplesamoa.org       (accessed 16 Jan. 2009).
> On the House of Worship in India, see The Dawning Place of Remembrance of God: The Bahá’í House of
> Worship of the Indian Sub-Continent, New Delhi (Pune, India: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1990); Alessandro
> Posocco, "Il Tempio Baha’i a Nuova Delhi," L’industria italiana del cemento 58.1 (1988): 4–25; Ranjit
> Sabikhi, "Temple like a Lotus Bud, Its Petals Slowly Unfolding," Architecture Sept. 1987: 72–75; Sabiha
> Foster, "Geometry and the House of Worship," Architectural Design 74.6 (2004): 46–53; Bahá’ís of India,
> "Indian Bahá’í Temple" http://bahaindia.org/temple/index.html       (accessed 16 Jan. 2009); "In the Shadow
> of the Lotus, Peace and Calm Prevail," Bahá’í World News Service 19 Mar. 2008,
> http://news.bahai.org/story/611     (accessed 16 Jan. 2009).
> On the House of Worship in Chile, see "Translucent Temple for Chile," Bahá’í World News Service 13 June
> 2003, http://news.bahai.org/story/223     (accessed 16 Jan. 2009); "Casting Light on Design of Temple,"
> Bahá’í World News Service 1 July 2003, http://news.bahai.org/story/229     (accessed 16 Jan. 2009);
> "Spectacular Site for Chile Temple," Bahá’í World News Service 26 Apr. 2005,
> http://news.bahai.org/story/369     (accessed 16 Jan. 2009); "Fabrication Begins on Components for Baha’i
> Temple in South America," Bahá’í World News Service 19 Feb. 2007, http://news.bahai.org/story/505
> (accessed 16 Jan. 2009).
> 
> Understanding the Citations
> Citing Bahá’í Encyclopedia Project Articles
>
> — *Mashriqu'l-Adhkar (Used by permission of the curator)*