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| Sunday, 30 April 2006 |
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Junior Observer |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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I'm one of your feathered friends, who loves to travel around. Last week, when I was flying around the city, the travel bug bit me and gave me the disease of travelling. So I spent the whole "Avurudu Week" travelling about in India. I decided to maintain a diary to keep records of my visits.
Reading others' diaries is not a good habit, but I invite you to read mine, because then you will feel that you also came there with me. I assure you, you will enjoy it and also gain knowledge about our country as well as the outside world. My first destination, in my journey in India, was the Lotus Temple. I went with Papa Bird and Mama Bird. The following is my diary... **** Little Blue Birdie's Diary Dear Diary, Today was my first day in New Delhi, which is the capital city of India. It is the administrative capital of India. In Sri Lanka it's Sri Jayawardanapura Kotte. The place I visited today is important, because of its architectural value. It is the Bahai Masrique l-Adhkar, better known as the 'Lotus Temple'. This place really surprised and inspired me a lot, just as, I believe, it inspires all the people who come to visit, from all over the world.
The temple gave me the impression of a half-open lotus flower, afloat, surrounded by leaves. The shining pure white marble and the petals clearly standing out create a sense of magnificence and wonder. All around the lotus are walkways with beautiful curved handrails, bridges and stairs that surround the nine pools, which represent the floating leaves of the lotus. The flooring inside the auditorium is of white marble, while the finish of the walkways and stairs of the outer portion is of red sandstone, which gives the complex a majestic look. The lotus, as I saw from outside, is the structure of the house, and comprises three ranks of nine petals, each springing from a podium elevating the building above the surrounding plain. The first two ranks curve inward, embracing the inner dome, while the third layer curves outward to form canopies over the nine entrances. The petals, constructed of reinforced white concrete, are clad in white marble panels. Nine arches that provide the main support for the super-structure ring the central hall. When I flew to the top of the temple, to get an in-flight view of the temple, I saw the lotus was open at the top, a glass and steel roof provides protection from the rain and lets in natural light to the auditorium. This temple covers an area of 26 acres of land. The temple took six years and eight months to be completed. The main entrance gate was first opened to the public on January 1, 1987, while it was dedicated to public worship in December 1986. Now it is one of the most visited places in India. Do you know the creator of this wonderful piece of architecture? It's a person called Mr. Fariburz Sabha, who was a Canadian citizen. The Lotus Temple is a worship house of the Bahai` religion, but is visited by Buddhists, Hindus, Christians, Muslims, and Jews, and people of all castes, colours, cultures and even birds like me. I flew all around the temple several times, I didn't see even one person belonging to the Clergy in the temple; there were no idols, pictures or rituals. I didn't even hear any sermons. It is a place for communication between man and God. I heard that their daily public services include selections from the holy books of all religions. The lotus is always the fairest flower according to Indians. Papa Bird said the national flower of India is also the lotus. Robin, guide bird, who showed us around the Lotus Temple, explained to us how it has been inseparably associated with religion. It is associated with Buddhism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism (a religion in India) and Islam. I remembered a few examples I learnt at school and have heard. They are that the Bodhisathwa was born on seven lotus flowers and that most of the Buddha statues are designed to look as they are on lotus flowers. Not only the Buddha, Brahma was also said to have been born on a lotus.
In other religions too, such as the Jain religion practised in India,
lotus flowers are a vital symbol. |
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