The magnificent white lotus, glowing in ethereal grandeur, over the South Delhi horizon, popularly called Kamal Mandir, is the Bahá’í House of Worship, whose portals daily welcome thousands of visitors and worshippers from all backgrounds of nationality, race and religion. That iconic building represents the fruition, in 1986, of the aspiration of Indian Bahá’ís who petitioned Abdu’l-Bahá in 1920 for permission to raise a Mashriqu’l-Adhkár. The prophetic response of Abdu’l-Bahá was that a majestic Mashriqu’l-Adhkár would be erected in one of the central cities of India in the future. The amazing story of the fulfillment of the cherished aspiration of succeeding generations, and first ever casting in concrete of a natural creation, a lotus blossom, on an estate found to be part of an ancient Moghul township named Bahapur, is recounted in Lotus of Bahapur, by Mr. Sheriar Nooreyezdan, a member of the construction team.

The book traces the growth of the Lotus from the architect’s fascinating narrative of how he chose the lotus concept for his Temple design to its completion, despite the constraints of the early eighties when scarcity of cement and steel had brought the construction industry to a standstill, but providentially benefitted the Temple project in terms of cost and time saving. The Lotus of Bahapur describes how the Divine Hand removed all hindrances, minimized costs and accelerated blossoming of the lotus.

Also highlighted in Lotus of Bahapur is the inspiring saga of sacrifice of Bahá’ís who financed their multi‑crore project with munificent donations. Also recorded is account of the interesting reaction of visitors who enjoyed the serenity of the Temple ambience, and felt spiritually uplifted after their experience of participating in prayer services without clergy or rituals, moved by the recitation and chanting of verses from the Bhagavad Gita, Dhamapada, Avesta, Bible, Quran and Bahá’í Holy Writings. Visitors are impressed that admission to the Temple is free, nor are donations accepted.