19th March 2013

Unknown donor

Shah Jahan made Taj Mahal for his dead wife using funds he collected from public. Even 350 years after that Shah Jahan is remembered for what he built. Another man named Ardishir Rustampur gave his entire life's saving for building the Lotus temple - Money he had earned himself, not collected from public to build Lotus Temple but there is not even a Wikipedia page for the poor man. I don't know if he was the single donor on one of many but I do know that he was an important donor as his name comes up quite frequently, including on Wikipedia. If I had gone to Lotus Temple with this knowledge, I would have tried to find his name mentioned somewhere. I am planning to go there again to get some shots at night so maybe then I will explore.

One line from a poem "Cactus" by Dr. Hariwansh Rai Bachchan.

Khilta hoon kisi vivashta se, khilne ke saadh to nahin hai
Is jag mein anjaane reh jaana koi apradh to nahin hai.

Images that didn't made the cut

There are some more images of Lotus Temple that didn't make the cut. You can find there here.