Australian Baha'i House of Worship in Sydney
What is a Mashriqu'l-Adhkár - A Baha'i House of Worship
As a gathering place for prayer and meditation, Bahá'í Houses of Worship are the religious buildings that most closely approximate the role of the church, the temple or the mosque. Yet they are also something more.
The term `Mashriqu'l-Adhkár' means literally, `Dawning-place of the praise of God'.
To appreciate the significance of this Bahá`í institution, we must lay aside all customary ideas of the churches and cathedrals of the past. The Mashriqu'l-Adhkár fulfils the original intention of religion in each dispensation, before that intention had become altered and veiled by human invention and belief. LEARN MORE >
The Australian Baha'i House of Worship
The Bahá’í House of Worship was conceived and constructed for the worship of God, independent of our notions of race, nation, class or creed. That is why its services offer selections from the various Sacred Writings and not from sectarian literature. There is no ritualism or set form.
Bahá’ís have no professional clergy. The auditorium of the House of Worship is open to all people for prayer and meditation.
There are no collections. Only Bahá’ís are allowed to contribute to the Bahá’í funds and consider it a spiritual privilege to do so. Their contributions are both voluntary and confidential.
The Sydney Bahá’í House of Worship, dedicated in 1961, is a unique architectural development: nine-sided with nine entrances, it symbolises the gathering together of all mankind, irrespective of race, religion, nation or class. The grounds are a wild flower sanctuary. The seats in the central part of the auditorium face the Holy Land. Above the head of the worshippers in the apex of the dome, in Arabic calligraphy, is an invocation depicting the Greatest Name translated as
