Baha'i Temple in Chicago

Having explored the Chicago Temple on the Official Website of the Baha'i's of the United States (http://www.bahai.us/bahai-temple), I have to say, I was very much impressed. Browsing through the numerous photos, reading several articles, and viewing videos about the temple and its history, I was surprised by the immense scope of it all. An impressive piece of architecture, the temple is a complicated, intricate, and beautiful building with gorgeous surrounding gardens to boot!

One of seven Baha'i Houses of Worship in the world, the Chicago temple stays true to representing the Baha'i faith well. There are several symbols in the architecture and the gardens that link directly with the faith. One of those symbols is the number nine. The nine-pointed star is prominent in the videos and pictures, and the temple itself has nine sides because of the nine holy days in the Baha'i calendar. The garden is another amazing addition surrounding the temple. Representing the garden of Ridvan, it is painstakingly symmetrical and circles around the temple...showing the unity and closeness of the Baha'i faith.

The inside of the temple is just as significant and important as the outside. In one article I read, it states that, "The lace designed inside the dome represents the orbiting patterns of the celestial skies. The dome itself is in the shape of a bell - a metaphor calling humanity together in meditation and prayer. The Baha'i faith is based on unity, equality, harmony and world peace. These themes are woven throughout the lace designs, as well as the religious symbols on the outside columns. " (For the rest of the article, click here: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=resources&id=5258955).

I found the site very interesting and discovered many new things about the temple and the Baha'i faith and its people (for example, the temple was funded only by Baha'is themselves, and there were only about 2000 followers when they began construction on it). I really want to visit the temple one day after seeing learning so much about it!