ISRAEL: The Bahai community unveils their renovated temple, with a dome covered in gold tiles

Record ID: 396745

  • Title: ISRAEL: The Bahai community unveils their renovated temple, with a dome covered in gold tiles
  • Date: 13th April 2011
  • Summary: HAIFA, ISRAEL (APRIL 12, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BAHAI TEMPLE LOCATED AT THE BAHAI GARDENS IN HAIFA TOURISTS AT BAHAI GARDENS MALE TOURIST TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS EAGLE STATUE IN GARDEN EAGLE STATUE IN FOREGROUND / VIEW OF HAIFA BEACH AS SEEN FROM BAHAI GARDENS BAHAI GARDENS SPOKESPERSON ROBERT WEINBERG SPEAKING TO TOURISTS BAHAI TEMPLE GOLDEN DOME THAT WAS RENOVATED
  • Embargoed: 28th April 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel, Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA77N0LD8L3CJYFRENXILHYRDFI
  • Story Text: Concluding three years of renovations in which tens of millions of US dollars were invested, the Bahai community unveiled its new and exquisite temple on Tuesday (April 12).
    The temple is located in Haifa in the Bahai Gardens, which in 2008 were added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site list.
    The highlight of the renovated compound is the golden dome topping the temple, which is a precise and elaborate jigsaw of 11,790 porcelain tiles painted with gold solution.
    The custom-made tiles were manufactured in Portugal in 120 shapes due to the dome's unusual geometric shape.
    According to Bahai Gardens spokesperson Robert Weinberg, over a hundred expert craftsmen from around the world took part in renovations, as well as at least a hundred volunteers from within the Bahai community. The volunteers alone, arriving from Africa, Australia, North America, Europe and Asia, invested over 150,000 hours in the project.
    "After three years of renovation the golden dome has been replaced, and the entire shrine building has been restored to a condition which not only maintains the beauty of the original building; but also will ensure that the building lasts for hundreds of years against earthquakes and the other environmental conditions that we have here in Haifa," Weinberg told Reuters television in Haifa.
    There are 11 Bahai sites in northern Israeli cities associated with the founders of the Bahai faith, among them the Shrine of the Bahaullah in Acre and the Mausoleum of the Bab in Haifa. The mausoleum is surrounded by a series of finely kept gardens on a hillside.
    The Bahai gardens is a site that attracts a lot of tourists.
    "Today it's a festive day, we inaugurating the reconstruction of the Bahai shrine. The city of Haifa is very proud to be the world centre of the Bahai faith. It was recognised by UNESCO to be a world heritage (site). The Gardens, magnificent gardens which are lying on the slope of the mountain coming to the sea, and the whole area was recognised as world heritage by UNESCO," said Mayor of Haifa, Yonah Yahav.
    Haifa's skyline is dominated by the now-golden dome above the tomb of the Bab, a shrine to a Persian merchant considered by the Bahais to be the forerunner to Bahaullah. Believers regard the Bahai faith's founder, Bahaullah, as the latest in a line of prophets including Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Jesus and Mohammed. The gardens, which surround the mausoleum for the Bab, help set the proper tone for those making a pilgrimage to the site.
    Founded in the 19th century, Bahai is considered by some scholars to be an offshoot of Islam. The faith sees itself as an independent religion. Its five million followers are spread across more than 190 countries.
    A central tenet of the religion is that people should work to build a global society which calls for an end to prejudice, full sexual equality, and the eradication of extremes of poverty and wealth.
    While Bahaullah instructed followers not to establish a permanent community in the Holy Land, 700 volunteers from around the world work as custodians at its shrines.
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