Baháʼí House of Worship

They are located in the United States, Uganda, Australia, Germany, Panama, Samoa, India, and Chile, and some have won architectural awards.

The Baháʼí Faith envisions that Houses of Worship will be surrounded by dependencies dedicated to social, humanitarian, educational, and scientific pursuits, although none has yet been built up to that extent.

Then, with radiance and joy, celebrate therein the praise of your Lord, the Most Compassionate.The first Baháʼí House of Worship, in what is now Turkmenistan, was planned during the lifetime of Baháʼu'lláh and then designed and constructed during the ministry of his son and successor, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá.

[10] By the end of the twentieth century, further continental Houses of Worship were completed in Uganda, Australia, Germany, Panama, Samoa, and India.

[4] To varying degrees, Baháʼí Houses of Worship also integrate cultural and environmental elements from the areas in which they are built into their materials, landscaping, and architecture.

[4] Shoghi Effendi taught that Houses of Worship should each be surrounded by a complex of humanitarian, educational, and charitable institutions—such as schools, hospitals, homes for the elderly, universities, and hostels—to serve the areas in which they are situated.

[21][26] Shoghi Effendi also viewed the functions of the House of Worship as complementary to those of the Haziratu'l-Quds (commonly known as a Baháʼí centre), and said that it would be desirable if both these buildings were on the same site.

[34][3] The principal architect was Louis Bourgeois,[21] though his original design ended up being amended numerous times due to impractical elements.

[26] The cladding of the building is composed of a concrete mixture of Portland cement, quartz, and sand, developed for the temple by John Joseph Earley.

[4] The grounds of the temple feature nine fountains, rows of Chinese junipers, and a wide range of flowers including thousands of tulips planted each fall.

[33] There is a Baháʼí House of Worship situated on the northern outskirts of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city, on Kikaaya Hill.

[3][6] Shoghi Effendi announced that the Kampala temple would be built in 1955 after persecution of Baháʼís in Iran made it impossible for them to build one.

[3] Musa Banani, the first Hand of the Cause in Africa, was also present for the groundbreaking and placed a gift of soil from the Shrine of Baháʼu'lláh, sent by Shoghi Effendi, in the foundation.

[4] The surrounding gardens contain a variety of native Australian flora including waratahs, three species of eucalypts, caleyi and other grevillea, acacia, and woody pear.

[6] Both Malietoa Tanumafili II of Samoa, the world's first Baháʼí head of state, and Rúhíyyih Khánum helped lay the foundation stone on 27 January 1979 and attended the dedication on 1 September 1984.

[4] The structure is open to the island breezes; Graham Hassall writes that this fosters a suitable environment for meditation and prayer.

[4] In Bahapur, New Delhi, India,[4] there is a Baháʼí House of Worship that is commonly known as the Lotus Temple, which was designed by Iranian-American architect Fariborz Sahba.

[48][49] Inspired by the sacred lotus flower, the temple's design is composed of 27 free-standing, marble-clad "petals" grouped into clusters of three and thus forming nine entryways.

[8] The Santiago temple cost a total of $30 million to build[8] and has won a range of Canadian and international architectural awards.

[54][55][56] The Santiago Baháʼí House of Worship is ringed by nine entrances, nine pathways, and nine fountains, and the structure is composed of nine arching "sails".

[53] The first Baháʼí House of Worship was built in the city of Ashgabat, which was then a part of Russia's Transcaspian Oblast and is now the capital of Turkmenistan.

[3] At the four corners of the plot of land surrounding the House of Worship were various buildings: a boys' school; a girls' school; a large meeting hall; and a group of buildings including the offices of the Local Spiritual Assembly, a reading room, and a room for meeting with enquirers.

[58] A dedication ceremony and official opening conference took place on 1–2 September 2017, attended by Cambodian dignitaries, locals, and representatives of Baháʼí communities throughout southeast Asia.

[59][16] The temple in Agua Azul in the municipality of Villa Rica, Cauca Department, Colombia was the second local Baháʼí House of Worship to be completed in the world.

[60] The temple design, by architect Julian Gutierrez Chacón, was inspired by the shape of the cocoa seed, which was integral to the local culture before the arrival of the sugar cane industry.

[18] On 13 November 2021, a local Baháʼí House of Worship opened near the town of Lenakel on the island of Tanna, Vanuatu.

[19] The world's first national Baháʼí House of Worship, located in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, was dedicated and opened its doors on 25 March 2023.

[20] The design for the temple near Bihar Sharif, created by architect Amritha Ballal, was shortlisted for the 2022 World Architecture Festival.

[24] She also argues that there are a number of parallels between Baháʼí Houses of Worship and mosques: decoration with geometric patterns rather than images or statues, the absence of offering or communion rituals, and the adaptation of architectural designs to local cultural styles.

[24] However, Graham Hassall has disputed Warburg's analysis, pointing to the large number of tourists visiting many Baháʼí Houses of Worship and positive coverage in online media such as travel guides and blogs.