Jewel in the Lotus

[Music] 0:30

India 0:49

a land of rich cultural heritage 0:52

its people steeped in traditions of 0:54

ancient and diverse faiths 0:58

Indian life 1:00

Indian art 1:01

and perhaps most of all 1:03

Indian architecture 1:05

display the diverse panoply of 1:07

significant and powerful symbols 1:10

expressive of the innermost life of the 1:12

spirit of man 1:14

symbols that unite man with his creator 1:18

symbols that have often separated him 1:21

from his fellow man 1:25

four hundred years ago shaw akbar the 1:32

greatest of the mogul emperors from his 1:34

magnificent palace near agra 1:37

dreamed of uniting all the diverse 1:39

people of India under the banner of one 1:42

universal faith 1:46

while I dreamed that stone by stone I 1:48

reared a sacred fame 1:50

a temple 1:52

neither pagod mosque nor church 1:54

but loftier 1:56

simpler 1:57

always open door to every breath from 2:00

heaven 2:01

and truth and peace and love and justice 2:04

came 2:05

and dwelt therein 2:10

but such a goal remained far beyond the 2:12

reach of even the most powerful emperor 2:15

in 1880 2:22

jamal effendi sailed to bombay bringing 2:25

the Bahá’í faith the teachings of 2:27

Bahá’u’lláh to the Indian subcontinent 2:30

the Bahá’í faith newest of the world’s 2:32

major religions proclaimed the 2:34

underlying spiritual unity of the 2:36

diverse peoples and religions of 2:38

humankind 2:40

the impending fulfillment of akbar’s 2:42

dream 2:43

a truly universal religion 2:48

through the next 100 years the Bahá’í 2:50

community grew 2:52

developing the foundations of religious 2:54

unity 2:55

the young Bahá’í community longed to 2:57

build a unique temple 2:59

that all the people of India could 3:01

recognize as their own 3:03

after a century of germination 3:06

a remarkable lotus-shaped temple has 3:08

blossomed in the heart of India 3:11

attracting more than two million 3:13

visitors a year rivaling the eiffel 3:15

tower in the taj mahal the new temple 3:19

welcomes people of all races 3:21

all religions 3:23

all cultures and all classes 3:27

it is the Bahá’í house of worship 3:30

mashraekal azkar the dawning place of 3:33

the mention of god 3:36

[Applause] 3:43

it is an achievement of the human spirit 3:55

marking the conclusion of the first 3:57

century of the Bahá’í faith in the 3:58

Indian subcontinent 4:00

a new embodiment of an ancient symbol 4:03

this remarkable structure has been 4:05

widely hailed as one of the most 4:07

outstanding architectural achievements 4:09

of this generation 4:11

the times of london called it the taj 4:13

mahal of the 20th century 4:15

its design is a unique blend of today’s 4:20

most advanced technologies with 4:22

traditional craftsmanship 4:24

in its structure is the labor commitment 4:27

of the people of India 4:29

in its concept 4:30

is a unity embodied in a symbol that 4:33

lies at the heart of India’s spiritual 4:35

heritage 4:37

the lotus line 4:39

the temple itself reflects qualities of 4:42

the community that built it 4:44

followers of Bahá’u’lláh the glory of 4:46

god prophet founder of the Bahá’í faith 4:55

in just over a century this young faith 4:58

has spread throughout the planet 5:00

reconciling ancient religious beliefs 5:02

with the knowledge and needs of today 5:05

proclaiming the oneness of god 5:08

the oneness of religion the oneness of 5:10

all humanity 5:15

the beginnings of the temple project go 5:17

back to 1921 5:19

when the young Indian Bahá’í community 5:21

petitioned abdul baha for permission to 5:23

build a house of worship in bombay 5:26

abdul baha replied 5:28

by the will of god 5:30

a majestic mashrikalaskar will be 5:32

erected in one of the central cities of 5:34

India in the future 5:36

eventually a site was chosen near the 5:38

southern edge of new delhi 5:40

from the beginning 5:42

the project was infused with a spirit of 5:44

generosity and sacrifice 5:47

artashira rostempoor a coffee shop owner 5:50

in hyderabad donated his entire life 5:53

savings to purchase the land 5:56

it was later discovered that the land 5:58

was part of an ancient village named 6:01

which means the abode of baha’u 6:04

in 1974 the world governing body of the 6:08

Bahá’í faith the universal house of 6:10

justice 6:11

called for designs for the first Bahá’í 6:13

temple of the Indian subcontinent 6:16

twenty-eight-year-old architect farabor 6:18

sappa traveled to India in search of 6:20

inspiration for such a monumental 6:22

project 6:24

I began traveling without any 6:26

preconception 6:28

searching for ideas 6:29

I visited many places all over India 6:32

not for architectural research 6:34

but to search for a concept 6:37

I was hoping to discover some secret 6:40

to find the spiritual guidance 6:43

symbolism has great significance in 6:45

India probably more than anywhere else I 6:48

know 6:49

everything has meaning and every symbol 6:52

speaks in a way 6:54

to the hearts of the people 6:58

in a small city of India I met a man an 7:02

ordinary Bahá’í who came to knew his 7:05

hair that 7:06

I am going to design about the temple 7:09

and Lisa so he came to me and 7:11

he just he was curious about what I’m 7:14

going to do and all of these things and 7:16

then he for the first time he mentioned 7:18

to me the lotus 7:20

I was impressed by his enthusiasm 7:23

but the concept itself did not attracted 7:26

me 7:27

yet as I returned to travel 7:31

everywhere I went I saw the lotus in 7:33

front of me 7:34

I could not escape from this concept I 7:38

was seeing it everywhere 7:45

the lotus 7:47

perhaps the most ancient religious 7:49

symbol in this ancient land 7:51

springing from the beginning which hath 7:53

no beginning 7:55

the early vedas state that this blossom 7:58

was born of the light of the 7:59

constellations 8:01

ancient brahmanic myths identify the 8:04

lotus as the first living thing to 8:06

emerge from the primordial sea 8:09

the starting point for the evolution of 8:11

all created things 8:16

in the hindu epic poem 8:18

the mahabharata 8:20

the creator brahma is described as 8:23

having sprung from the lotus that grew 8:25

out of lord vishnu’s navel 8:28

according to buddhist traditions the 8:30

bodhisattva was born from a lotus and is 8:33

often portrayed seated upon a lotus 8:35

pedestal 8:36

holding a lotus in his hand 8:40

variations on this theme are common not 8:42

only throughout India 8:44

but abroad from java to tibet from china 8:47

and japan to central asia 8:49

it is a symbol of the universal buddha 8:52

matreya a sign of the manifestation of 8:55

god 8:57

buddhists glorify him in their prayers 9:00

omani padme home 9:03

yea o jewel in the lotus 9:06

the lotus also finds expression in 9:09

zoroastrian 9:10

christian 9:11

and islamic traditions 9:14

now 9:15

the lotus came to be embodied in the 9:17

bold and creative design for the Bahá’í 9:20

temple 9:22

all the people in all the religions 9:25

they have accepted lotus as a unique 9:29

symbol of 9:32

spiritual spirituality purity and it 9:36

represents the messengers of god 9:41

mr sappa’s drawings describe a 9:43

remarkable structure 9:45

three rolls of nine petals each spring 9:48

from a podium 9:49

which elevates the building above the 9:51

surrounding plane 9:53

the first two rows curve inward 9:56

embracing the inner dome rising to 34 9:59

meters 10:00

the middle set of petals reaches more 10:02

than 22 meters some 70 feet into the air 10:06

the third layer curves outward to form 10:10

canopies over the nine entrances 10:12

the diameter across the entrance petals 10:14

is 70 meters 230 feet the main load of 10:19

the building is borne by nine large 10:22

archways which frame the central 10:24

auditorium 10:25

the main building is surrounded by nine 10:28

pools of water whose shape suggests the 10:31

floating leaves of the lotus 10:35

the central circular auditorium seats 10:38

twelve hundred people with the ability 10:40

to accommodate an additional one 10:41

thousand 10:43

the entire superstructure functions as a 10:45

series of skylights 10:47

allowing light into the central hall the 10:50

same way light passes through the petals 10:52

of a lotus flower 10:56

the new temple in India joins the 10:58

distinguished company of the high houses 11:00

of worship on every continent 11:06

all share certain design elements 11:08

a nine-sided structure 11:11

a central dome 11:13

interiors bathed in natural light 11:16

symbolic of unity and the light of 11:18

divine guidance 11:20

yet each is unique 11:22

expressive of the cultural heritage of 11:24

its own area 11:29

mr sappa’s breathtaking design was 11:31

readily accepted but his unusual concept 11:34

presented a formidable engineering 11:36

problem 11:38

how do you create a large structurally 11:41

sound building that still captures the 11:44

delicate natural form of the lotus 11:47

to tackle the problem of structural 11:49

design mr sappa chose the flint and neil 11:52

partnership of london as structural 11:54

consultants 11:56

the most important 11:59

aspect of the 12:01

development of the design was the 12:04

hinged on the 12:05

use of modern computing techniques 12:09

in 1978 when mr sabra and we first got 12:12

together 12:13

that we had a new generation of computer 12:16

software 12:18

which was vastly more powerful than 12:20

anything we’d had before 12:22

the architectural and engineering teams 12:24

work closely together over an 18-month 12:27

period 12:28

consultation helped them achieve unity 12:30

between the design and structural 12:32

requirements 12:34

the final design was almost identical to 12:36

the architect’s original drawings 12:39

bold and daring 12:41

a lattice of thin concrete shells 12:44

without supporting beams 12:46

delicate 12:47

like an eggshell drawing strength almost 12:50

totally from their shape 12:53

freestanding petals 12:55

complex curves and arches 12:57

utterly impossible to build without the 12:59

most advanced technology 13:02

yet Indian construction techniques are 13:05

labor-intensive 13:06

with minimal equipment and time-worn 13:08

methods 13:10

a leading british architect commented at 13:12

the time 13:13

to build such a structure in europe 13:15

would be extremely difficult in India 13:18

impossible 13:20

at the site work began early in 1978 13:28

mr sappa shifted his office from london 13:31

to assemble the construction team 13:33

assuming the additional role of project 13:36

manager 13:38

the project recruited up to 800 people 13:41

most of whom would live at the site over 13:43

much of the next six years 13:45

in an unprecedented move the project 13:47

established a school providing education 13:50

and child care so parents could work 13:52

nearby without anxiety 13:55

the workers came from all parts of India 13:57

people of different regions 13:59

different languages 14:01

different faiths 14:02

women workers removed hundreds of tons 14:05

of earth and rock from the extensive 14:07

excavations and carried the concrete 14:09

from much of the structure 14:11

each woman walked an estimated 21 14:13

kilometers per day 14:15

carrying as much as 20 tons of material 14:18

in an eight-hour shift 14:22

once the basement and podium were 14:23

constructed the nine massive supporting 14:26

arches were completed 14:28

then the extraordinary process of 14:30

creating the shells began 14:32

construction of a shell structure of 14:34

such size and complexity had never been 14:37

attempted anywhere in the world and many 14:39

engineers considered it a practical 14:41

impossibility 14:43

architect designers and contractors 14:46

engineers conducted months of research 14:48

and experimentation to find innovative 14:51

approaches and develop workable new 14:53

building techniques 14:55

experimental models were built out of 14:57

timber 14:58

patterns were created for the formwork 15:00

that would shape the cement petals 15:03

new concreting techniques had to be 15:05

developed 15:07

for aesthetic and structural reasons mr 15:10

sappha was determined to avoid 15:11

construction joints in the shells 15:14

this required finding a way to pour the 15:17

thin 15:17

13 centimeter shells up to 22 meters 15:21

high in one continuous operation 15:24

this was more than ten times the maximum 15:27

height of pour recommended by the 15:29

consultants 15:30

pouring to such heights and compacting 15:33

concrete in the narrow forms which for 15:35

some shells was no more than seven 15:37

centimeters wide and curved in two 15:39

directions posed the most formidable 15:42

challenge 15:43

months of consultation finally produced 15:46

a complex plan 15:47

requiring the precise coordination of 15:50

some 300 workers at a time 15:52

working rapidly 15:54

precisely and continuously for periods 15:56

of up to 48 hours 15:59

in preparation thousands of square feet 16:02

of formwork were painstakingly laid out 16:04

on precise geometric coordinates and 16:08

fixed to a specially designed steel 16:10

space frame 16:12

the outer formwork was then 16:13

systematically numbered for reassembly 16:16

and removed 16:17

the inner formwork built to furniture 16:20

maker standards was precisely aligned 16:23

and sealed 16:25

the cage of galvanized reinforcement was 16:27

carefully fixed in place 16:30

as concreting commenced 16:32

the outer form work was put in position 16:34

one row at a time 16:36

to compact the concrete needle vibrators 16:40

were threaded into pre-planned positions 16:42

by workers standing on platforms 10 16:44

meters above the pouring level 16:48

as soon as the concrete reached the 16:49

level of the outer formwork the masons 16:52

and concrete teams stepped back and the 16:54

carpenters rushed forward to fix the 16:56

next level of the outer formwork 16:58

they had only 10 minutes to complete the 17:01

task lest the concrete began to set 17:04

a supervisory team then quickly double 17:06

checked the reinforcement and forms 17:08

placement and the next level of pouring 17:10

immediately began 17:12

repeating the entire cycle 17:14

step by step 17:16

with the coordinated efforts of hundreds 17:18

of hands the delicate concrete petals 17:20

grew skyward 17:23

meanwhile teams of workers were 17:25

systematically pouring over the steel 17:27

frame tightening any nuts worked loose 17:30

by the constant vibration 17:32

this complex operation had to proceed 17:35

flawlessly and without interruption 17:37

through multiple shift changes 17:39

in spite of scorching heat torrential 17:42

monsoon rains high winds equipment 17:45

breakdowns and frequent power outages 17:48

you can say 300 people are working at a 17:52

time on these platforms and 17:55

they talk in 10 different languages 17:58

we came together and we worked like 18:02

absolute members of one family 18:04

working because 18:05

you are living together you are working 18:07

around the clock 18:09

every night this concreting of these 18:11

shells has been done in all in one one 18:14

piece one one go 18:16

48 hours has taken to complete one of 18:19

these chains 18:22

the entire structure and scaffolding had 18:24

to be covered with heavy tarpaulins to 18:26

protect it from heat and heavy monsoon 18:28

rains 18:29

to keep the concrete mix cool enough to 18:32

set properly in the intense summer heat 18:34

of central India 18:36

tons of ice were crushed by hand each 18:38

day and added to the mix 18:41

the hundreds of workers developed a 18:43

spirit of reverence about their work 18:46

arriving workers often performed a brief 18:48

puja or prayer before beginning their 18:50

work 18:51

together with the tons of dolomite 18:53

aggregate and pure white silica sand 18:56

these workers poured something of the 18:58

soul of India into this structure 19:04

as the shells were completed the pattern 19:06

of the lotus began to emerge 19:09

the inner leaves in groups of three 19:12

the outer and entrance leaves in proper 19:15

sequence to maintain an even loading on 19:17

the structure 19:19

once the outer and entrance petals were 19:21

completed 19:22

work began on the final and most 19:24

difficult part of the construction 19:27

the inner petals of the interior dome 19:30

a delicate lattice of nine intersecting 19:33

shells just seven centimeters thick 19:36

with every step 19:38

every process 19:40

every day 19:41

the work of these hundreds of men and 19:43

women met world-class standards 19:48

the inner surfaces were bush hammered by 19:51

some 100 workers harnessed to platforms 19:53

at dangerous heights 19:55

removing a thin layer of concrete to 19:57

expose the aggregate 20:01

one can say easily its entire project is 20:03

a handy craft because of the 20:08

all the items which have been 20:10

done with the 20:13

help of people that they are really 20:14

craftsmen like 400 carpenters at a time 20:17

making 40 000 square meter forward 20:20

something like this or bush hammering of 20:22

hundreds of uh you can say near about 20:26

9,000 square meter bush hammering 20:28

with the help of chisel and air sort of 20:31

just a small hammer and chisel by hand 20:34

this sort of work that 20:37

that that feeling was developed outside 20:39

that everybody has something to 20:41

contribute and that was the spirit of 20:43

teamwork that we 20:45

that could really do this job in India 20:49

this spirit of unity transcending 20:51

culture race language and faith was 20:55

critical to the project during the long 20:57

years of construction 21:00

the external structure was covered with 21:02

grecian marble 21:03

from mount pintelecon 21:05

the same marble used on the parthenon of 21:07

ancient athens and the monumental 21:09

buildings at the Bahá’í world center 21:12

in kiamo italy some of the world’s 21:14

finest marble artisans shaped the curved 21:17

marble covering 21:18

using full-scale mock-ups and 21:20

computer-controlled saws 21:22

the italian craftsmen labored for two 21:24

and one-half years to mold the marble to 21:27

the subtle elegant lines of the lotus 21:31

the marble was suspended over the 21:33

concrete shells by stainless steel 21:35

anchors 21:36

a cladding system never before used in 21:39

India 21:41

more than ten thousand pieces of curved 21:43

marble each of a different size had to 21:46

be fitted together like the pieces of a 21:48

giant three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle 21:59

the challenge of the project produced 22:01

story after moving story of great 22:04

personal sacrifice as Bahá’ís from 22:06

throughout India the highs from 22:08

throughout the world often gave whatever 22:10

they had to help the work proceed 22:13

in iran hundreds of Bahá’ís imprisoned 22:16

for their allegiance to this gentle 22:18

faith worked within the prison walls in 22:21

order to be able to make their 22:22

contribution to the temple project 22:25

to them was to go the honor of 22:27

contributing the crowning jewel in the 22:29

temple 22:31

on december 22 1986 just two days before 22:34

the final dedication this centerpiece 22:38

bearing a calligraphic rendering 22:39

symbolizing the unity of god 22:42

the unity of all religions and the unity 22:44

of all mankind the name of Bahá’u’lláh 22:48

was set like a precious jewel 22:50

in the heart of the lotus 22:59

for Bahá’ís such sacrificial acts evoked 23:11

memories of the suffering of Bahá’u’lláh 23:14

a small cachet containing dust gathered 23:16

from his shrine 23:18

was cemented beneath the marble above 23:20

the majestic archway facing the holy 23:22

land 23:24

according to the teachings of 23:26

Bahá’u’lláh 23:27

faith must be expressed in selfless 23:29

deeds 23:30

for the Bahá’í community the completed 23:33

temple stands as a witness to the 23:34

spiritual oneness of all religions and 23:37

to their commitment to build a peaceful 23:39

and united world 23:52

some 10,000 Bahá’ís from more than 70 23:55

countries flock to the dedication 23:57

ceremonies to inhale the fragrance of 23:59

the lotus and celebrate their 24:01

achievement 24:02

ravi shankar India’s world-renowned 24:10

musical genius composed music for the 24:12

dedication 24:17

architectural critics have claimed it to 24:23

be a major achievement 24:25

one of the most outstanding contemporary 24:27

structures in the world 24:29

one of the most remarkable achievements 24:30

of our time 24:32

as one of the masterpieces of the 20th 24:35

century 24:37

yet perhaps the most important reaction 24:39

came not from the experts 24:41

but from the multitude of people of 24:43

every religion 24:45

every race 24:46

and every nation 24:47

who come to visit 24:51

thousands come every day 24:53

drawn by the beauty 24:56

drawn as if by an invisible spirit 24:59

drawn to prayer 25:01

and meditation 25:05

the utterance of god is a lamp 25:34

whose light is these words 25:39

ye are the fruits of one tree 25:43

and the leaves of one branch 25:48

so powerful 25:50

is the light of unity 25:52

that it can illuminate 25:54

the 26:00

the dawning place of the mention of god 26:13

the lotus 26:19