An Earthly Paradise: Baha'i Houses of Worship Around the World [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

Julie Badiee (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: George Ronald; illustrated edition edition (1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 085398316X
• ISBN-13: 978-0853983163
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,988,078 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bahá'í Houses of Worship around the World, March 4, 2003

By 

Thelma Batchelor (Surrey, U.K.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: An Earthly Paradise: Baha'i Houses of Worship Around the World (Hardcover)

The Baha'i Faith can be summed up in 3 basic principles: the oneness of God, the oneness of humankind, and the oneness of religion. The Baha'i Temple is a visual symbol of the Baha'i teachings of unity, and a monument to the ancient and universal dream, the dream of a world at peace. Each Temple traditionally has 9 sides combined with a central dome. This form is then uniquely blended with the most beautiful indigenous traditions.

At the present time there are Baha'i Houses of Worship on every inhabited continent of the planet. They were all built with a similar purppose, to provide a place of worship and prayer for men and women from whatever creed or background they might come. They were envisioned as centers of unity encircling the planet and beckoning the human race to a new age of toleration and understanding.

These Baha'i Temples standing around the world are located in Wilmette, ner Chicago; Frankfurt, Germany; Sydney, Australia; Samoa in the heart of the Pacific Ocean; Panama City, Central America; Kampala, Uganda (Africa) and New Delhi, India. This attractively produced book describes each of these Temples including the first Baha'i House of Worship which was built in Ishqabad, Turkestan in 1903 (and later demolished). 100 years later designs are being submitted for the newest Baha'i House of Worship yet to be built in Chile.

The book takes the form of a series of meditations on various topics: The Language of Symbols; Sacred Spaces; The Garden as Paradise; Water Imagery; The Mountain, the Journey and the Door; Celestial Circles; A Sacred Geometry; an Earthly Paradise; Metaphor for the Manifestation; Universal Symbols; plus Appendices at the end of the book which give a brief history of the Baha'i Faith and some of its basic teachings. In each of the above chapters the author has used examples taken from various religious traditions and beliefs from around the world and there are photos in color and black and white of sacred sites, some familiar and some not so familiar, besides those of the Baha'i Houses of Worship.

It is a beautiful book, unusual in its content, and one to be much appreciated by the student of architectural beauty whether professional or layman. I am delighted to have this book in my own personal library.