While we are here in New Delhi, India our adoption guide is providing tours for us in significant parts of the city. We have been amazed at many things here in India.
The first place we saw is considered the most visited building in the world. The Lotus Temple is a temple built for the Ba’hai faith. This temple is one of 7 in the world for this unusual faith. These temples are considered multi-faith temples. They desire for anyone who wants to pray to their god to feel welcome in their most prized place. The architecture of this building is one of a kind and is incredibly unique. It is designed to look like a lotus flower. Just one quick search online and you can find that it has won several architecture awards. While they welcome people of all faiths to pray in their temple, one clear rule is there is no preaching of any kind and no “holy book” readings to take place in this room.
We also visited the largest Sikh temple in the world. This temple is home to a massive idol of the Sikh people’s god. They continually read their “holy book” and have worship time from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. every day. Additionally, they have a “healing pool” where people come and bathe, in hopes of washing away their sicknesses and diseases. This temple in particular feeds close to 40,000 people every single day. All of the food is donated or purchased by donations provided at the temple.
Finally, we took a tour of the largest Hindu temple in the world. With over 25 acres of property and the most elaborate carvings I have ever seen, it is absolutely stunning. Along the perimeter of the building are 148 massive carved elephants. This does not include the lions, alligators, rabbits, and other creatures that are carved. We watched as the grounds crew cut the grass with scissors in order to keep things looking precise. Inside, we watched as people clapped, fell prostrate, and sang to a large golden statue.
3 thoughts from these 3 temples
- While each temple was a particularly unique sight to see, the amount of lost people worshiping at these places is truly heart-breaking. The thought that most of them have never heard the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ cannot be acceptable to us as Christians. We must do whatever it takes for them to hear the good news.
- At each temple, a specific person came to my mind that holds to these false religions. I spent time at each temple praying for those individuals by name. It made the heartbreaking sight even more difficult because I thought of those individuals and how far away from the one true God they are.
- There is only one way. I saw a temple made for many faiths, a temple made for many false gods, and a temple made to provide healing. However, none of those temples represent the reality that Jesus is the way the truth, and the life (John 14:6). Our God is greater and there are no others!
As a result of these visits, I hope that I will live, pray, give, and proclaim differently!
