Bahá’í Lotus Temple

This guide to the Bahá'í Lotus Temple in Delhi follows architect Fariborz Sahba, commissioned in 1976 to design a house of worship that could welcome every faith without belonging to any one of them. It traces his months studying temples across India before settling on the lotus as a shape sacred to Hindus, Buddhists and Jains alike, and the years of engineering that turned the idea into twenty-seven free-standing marble petals. Look for the nine surrounding pools — they're not ornamental, they're part of how the building breathes.