Christmas, tis the season for reindeer, hot chocolate, presents and staying warm with the people you love!
Taken at Capilano which holds it’s yearly Christmas lights celebration at the Suspension Bridge!

Lotus Temple

// December 13th

We never gave Delhi the time it deserved, so Mel and I laid low and took the last few days to relax. The more than endearing Bhowmik family planned our last few stays with a visit to a few historical attractions, a cultural arts & crafts market and the unique tastes of Indian to fuel us through the day. Sadly the camera stayed home for most of the days; except, for when visiting the divine Lotus Temple.

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All Bahá’í Houses of Worship, including the Lotus Temple, share certain architectural elements, some of which are specified by Bahá’í scripture. `Abdu’l-Bahá, the son of the founder of the religion, stipulated that an essential architectural character of a House of Worship be that it requires to have a nine-sided circular shape. Inspired by the lotus flower, its design is composed of 27 free-standing marble clad “petals” arranged in clusters of three to form nine sides. While all current Bahá’í Houses of Worship have a dome, they are not regarded as an essential part of their architecture. Bahá’í scripture also states that no pictures, statues or images be displayed within the House of Worship and no pulpits or altars be incorporated as an architectural feature (readers may stand behind simple portable lecture stands). The nine doors of the Lotus Temple open onto a central hall, capable of holding up to 2,500 people. The central hall is slightly more than 40 meters tall and its surface is made of white marble. The white marbles are from Penteli mountain in Greece, the very same from which many of the ancient monuments were built and also many other Bahai temples. The House of Worship, along with the nine surrounding ponds and the gardens around comprise 26 acres (105,000 m²; 10.5 ha).

The site is in the village of Bahapur, in the National Capital Territory of Delhi. The architect was an Iranian, who now lives in Canada, named Fariborz Sahba. He was approached in 1976 to design it, later oversaw its construction and saved money from the construction budget to build a greenhouse to study which indigenous plants and flowers would be appropriate for the site. The major part of the funds needed to buy this land was donated by Ardishír Rustampúr of Hyderabad, who gave his entire life savings for this purpose in 1953.

The Bahá’í temple in Delhi, India was completed in 1986 and serves as the Mother Temple of the Indian subcontinent. It has won numerous architectural awards and been featured in many newspaper and magazine articles. The architect was an Iranian, who now lives in Canada, named Fariborz Sahba.

As with all other Bahá’í Houses of Worship, the Lotus Temple is open to all regardless of religion, or any other distinction, as emphasized in Bahá’í texts. The Bahá’í laws emphasize that the spirit of the House of Worship be that it is a gathering place where people of all religions may worship God without denominational restrictions. The Bahá’í laws also stipulate that only the holy scriptures of the Bahá’í Faith and other religions can be read or chanted inside in any language; while readings and prayers can be set to music by choirs, no musical instruments can be played inside. Furthermore no sermons can be delivered, and there can be no ritualistic ceremonies practiced.

-Wiki

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Lotus Temple, Delhi, India

Chosen on 500px.com as Editors Choice and by many described as a beautiful symmetrical image.

The Bahá’í House of Worship in Delhi, India, popularly known as the Lotus Temple due to its flowerlike shape, is a Bahá’í House of Worship and also a prominent attraction in Delhi. It was completed in 1986 and serves as the Mother Temple of the Indian subcontinent. It has won numerous architectural awards and been featured in hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles. – Wiki

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//December 12th

Dharamshala is in the footsteps of the Himalayas with McLeod Ganj, a village home to it’s holiness the Dali Lama and exiled government. With his Holiness away in at a conference in Australia during this time, probably soaking up some sun – I would not be able to see him at the complex.

The temperature here was dramatically different then sea level. The morning was downright chilly but once we were out scaling the mountains to reach the Bhagsu waterfall, there was no problem warming up. Below are a few shots over looking the McLeod valley where the water flows down into Dharamshala.

Dharamshala isn’t as much of a tourist spot as McLeod is. The small village is home to the holiness’ temple, a pretty busy market, Catholic church and a central bus stop. No surprise but most of India’s north is comprised of major Tibetan population. With this comes new food, crafts, yak cloths and their beautiful art. I came back to this one shop more then twice because of their vegetable soup with noodles called Thenthuk with Balep korkun, a flat bread cooked on a skillet instead of in an oven. When it’s cold out, soup is the only answer.

When visiting the temples, I also found Tibetans take painting to a whole new level. I’ve only seen temples exquisite such beautiful detail, couldn’t believe such masterpieces could even existed! I wonder if such work could be sold to the general public!

Just down the road from our hotel Mel and I crossed paths with three Indians dancing at their car. Doors wide open pounding Punjabi music. Strange site indeed! The three drunk gentlemen had just left their wives at home to “chill” out with the boys.
As one says, “Our wives think we drove just 40km down the road to enjoy some beer, but really they don’t know we’ve driven over a 1000km from from home to really get away”. The other responds, “Ya and they’ve been calling us all day, their pretty pissed why we haven’t come home in two days.” As they break out into laughter – So did we.

Before we could get into another conversation the song changes and they break out like little girls. “Come come, lets dance, join us!! Caught on film, we all get a chance to break it down with them for a bit. Entertaining and uneventful, it was a great to end the day.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySPtApufVFU

We spent a good while exchanging information and dance moves, all which was caught on camera. We were down right horrible though! … Maybe one day I’ll release it.

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One word described the event, FUN!

I’d like to thank everyone who came out. We also raised $250 toward Prostate Cancer!
Enjoy all the photos and I hope to see a even bigger crowd next time I host the third Studio Night!

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Elegant, yet productive

A few more from the event,



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It’s great to see real Olympic athletes volunteering their time to speak about their experience’s in pressure, perseverance, and motivation. During a local BMO event in Vancouver, Ben Rutledge did just that. He presented the crowd a great mix of comedy, hardship and determination. Follow your goals and trust your intuition! In Ben’s case, follow the pretty girls.

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