Travel & Humanitarian Photos
My free desktop wallpaper for September shows the Bahá’í Lotus temple in New Delhi, India.
The temple is one of the most impressive structures I’ve ever seen and no trip to New Delhi would be complete without paying it a visit. It’s constructed from 27 free-standing marble “petals” and has an interior that really makes you catch your breath when you enter. It’s wildly impressive.
Considering that India is a country where Gods number literally into the millions it’s perhaps no surprise that local Hindus were reportedly baffled when the Lotus Temple was first opened as they couldn’t find a deity to be worshipped.
Bahá’íism is a faith that declares that there is a unity between the world’s religions. It links Abraham, the Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad with other religious messengers and emphasises the unity between all humankind.
There! Don’t say I never teach you anything.
Getting a shot of the temple at sunset like this was actually quite tricky. The temple grounds close before sunset and although you can see it from the road I don’t recall being able to get this straight-on perspective of it from outside the main grounds.
So when the security men were ushering out the last visitors I had to try and grab what shots I could. It was a little frustrating to see the temple in the very best light of the day whilst being politely but firmly shooed out by the security men.
Taking a detour around a flower bed enabled me to escape them for just long enough to rest my camera on a fence post and to get this shot in the dying light but when they spied me we did our very own little Benny Hill routine where they chased me in circles around the garden. Well, that’s not strictly true but it was an image that came to my mind at the time.
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