Jun

18

World’s Most Visited Building

June 18, 2007 |

File this in the “Did You Know?” category, or rather “hmm… I never knew that” category. I stumbled upon “1000 places to see before you die” on Discovery Channel this weekend. They were featuring North India.

Bahai Temple Apparently, the Bahai Temple in New Delhi is the most visited building in the world. On an average, 10,000 visit the “lotus” temple everyday.

The photo is from my visit to the Lotus temple back in 1997. More on the Bahai House of worship here and the New Delhi Bahai temple architecture here.

Qutab MinarAnother Indian architecture trivia from the same program - the Qutub Minar is the highest brick minaret in the world. This from the Wikipedia entry - the Qutub Minar is 72.5 metres high (237.8 ft) and requires 399 steps to get to the top. I went to school in New Delhi for 3 years and my school bus used to drive by the Qutub Minar everday.

The tall iron structure next to it has an history of its own. This from the Wikipedia entry - made up of 98% wrought iron of pure quality, it is 7.21m (23 feet 8 inches) high, with 93cm buried below the present floor level, and has a diameter of 41cm (16 inches) at the bottom which tapers down on going up. The pillar was manufactured by forge welding and the temperatures required to form such of pillar by forge welding can be achieved by combustion of coal. The pillar is a testament to the high level of skill achieved by ancient Indian iron smiths in the extraction and processing of iron.


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