The Baha'i World Center unveils majestic gardens on Mount Carmel.
By Janet Mendelsohn Moshe
The Baha'i religion is an independent monotheistic faith with five million followers worldwide. Baha'is follow the Baha'ullah (1817-1892), whose teachings include equality for all people, compulsory education, the elimination of poverty, and the pursuit of reason, scientific knowledge and universal peace.
During a visit to Haifa in 1890, Baha'ullah told his son Abdul Baha to build a befitting resting place on Mount Carmel for the Bab, a Persian Muslim who had prophesized the new religion. (The final resting place of Baha'ullah is near Akko.) In 1909, almost sixty years after his death, the remains of the Bab were finally interred on Mount Carmel, in a shrine constructed by Abdul Baha himself. The shrine was beautified and developed over the years, and Mount Carmel soon became the administrative and spiritual center of the Baha'i faith. The work was finally completed in May 2001, with a majestic series of garden terraces designed in concentric circles emanating from the golden-domed Shrine of the Bab. On 22 May, a magnificent inauguration ceremony took place at the Center, featuring the Israel Northern Symphony Haifa, a 70-voice choir, a specially built 4,000-seat amphitheater and some 3,000 Baha'is from 180 countries. The musical climax "Terraces of Light", composed by Norway's Lasse Thoresen, was played just after sunset; during the performance the 19 terraces were lit up one by one in a spectacular visual display.
"It was stunning," said Nancy Oloro, a delegate for Zambia. "It was as if I were in a different world. It says in the Baha'i writings that music gives wings to the soul. I felt that."
Fariborz Sahba, the architect who designed the gardens and oversaw their construction, explains that they were designed to glorify the Shrine of the Bab, "not merely as a beautiful garden. There are beautiful gardens in many places. These are spiritual gardens."
The project took a decade to complete, at a cost of $250 million donated by Baha'i faithful all over the world. The terraces span a kilometer from the top of Mt. Carmel to its base in downtown Haifa. Mayor Amram Mitzna calls the gardens "the eighth wonder of the world", and says he feels privileged that this gift has been given to his city.
Much praise was bestowed on the city of Haifa at the opening ceremony. "May Haifa achieve wide renown not just as a place of natural beauty but more especially as a city of peace," said Dr. Albert Lincoln, Secretary General of the Baha'i International Community. "Let the word go forth, then, from this sacred spot, from this Mountain of the Lord, that the unity and peace of the world are not only possible but inevitable. Their time has come."
Although there is no official Baha'i community in Israel, some 600 volunteers are presently working in the country. The administrative center comprises several buildings designed by architect Husayn Amanat in the neo-classical style, including the Seat of the Universal House of Justice and the International Baha'i Archives and Library.
"A phenomenal thing is happening to me," said Henritta Josias, a 45-year-old saleswoman from Cape Town who was present at the ceremony. "Being a Baha'i opens your vision to the world around you. I feel like I am part of a great process, in which people are trying to become citizens of the whole world, where we see one another as brothers and sisters."