The eight continental Houses of Worship

The journey in one line

8 stops in United States, India, Uganda, Australia, Panama, Samoa, Germany and Chile. Complete means all 8 visited.

A Bahá'í House of Worship is called a Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, the dawning place of the praise of God. Every one is built with nine sides and nine entrances so that people can come in from any direction. There are no sermons, no clergy and no collection. Only scripture is read aloud, and it is drawn from many religions. Eight were built at continental scale. Wilmette outside Chicago came first in 1953. Kampala and Sydney followed in 1961, Langenhain near Frankfurt in 1964, Panama City in 1972, Tiapapata in Samoa in 1984, New Delhi in 1986, and Santiago de Chile in 2016, which closed the set. The very first House of Worship was built in Ashgabat and no longer stands, so this route is the eight that do. Newer national and local Houses of Worship are opening in places such as Battambang, Norte del Cauca, Matunda Soy, Tanna and Bihar Sharif. They are not part of this route. If this collection grows, they get their own. This is a route measured in years, not weeks. Six continents, eight buildings, and no charge at any of them.

Bahá'u'lláh wrote that houses of worship should be raised in every land. The buildings that followed look nothing alike. Wilmette is cast concrete lace. New Delhi is a lotus in white marble. Santiago is cast glass over translucent stone. Kampala is a green tiled dome on a hill above a capital city. What they share is the plan and the rule. Nine sides, nine doors, scripture only, open to everyone. Each was also conceived as the centre of something larger than a prayer hall, with schools and services growing up around it over time.

Entry is free everywhere and most have a visitor centre and offer guided introductions. Devotional programmes are short and open to anyone: Sunday at 11:00 in Sydney, Sunday at 10:00 in Samoa, Sunday at 15:00 in Panama City, and twice daily in Wilmette. New Delhi closes on Mondays. The Sydney temple building is under renovation at the time of writing and its grounds stay open. Hours move, so check each temple's own page before you travel.

Where it goes

The stops, in order

What a visit means here. A recorded visit means the grounds or the prayer hall of that House of Worship. All eight visited completes the route. Attending a devotional programme is not required and is not recorded here.

1. 1

   Bahá'í House of Worship, Wilmette

   Wilmette, Illinois, United States

   

   The House of Worship for North America, and the oldest one standing. Ground was broken in 1912 and the building was dedicated in 1953, after four decades of work. Its cast concrete lace was the first large use of that technique in the United States. It sits on the Lake Michigan shore north of Chicago.

   What counts as a visit

   The Temple auditorium, the surrounding gardens and the Welcome Center.

   Access

   Checked 16 September 2026. Free. Auditorium daily 06:00 to 18:00, Welcome Center daily 10:00 to 18:00. Shoes and shirts required, modest dress recommended. Informal photography is welcome in the gardens and not allowed inside the auditorium. Devotional programmes at 12:30 and 17:30.

   Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

2. 2

   Bahá'í House of Worship, New Delhi

   कमल मंदिर

   New Delhi, India

   

   The House of Worship for the Indian subcontinent, completed in 1986 and known everywhere as the Lotus Temple. Twenty seven marble clad petals in clusters of three form the nine sides. It is one of the most visited buildings in the world and draws millions of people a year, most of them not Bahá'ís.

   What counts as a visit

   The prayer hall and the surrounding gardens and pools.

   Access

   Checked 16 September 2026. Free, and open to people of any background. Closed on Mondays. Silence is asked for inside the prayer hall and photography inside is not allowed. Queues are long at weekends. Check the official site for current hours.

   Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

3. 3

   Bahá'í House of Worship, Kampala

   Kampala, Uganda

   

   The Mother Temple of Africa, and still the only continental House of Worship on the continent. It was built between 1957 and 1960 on Kikaya Hill, three miles north of Kampala, and dedicated in January 1961, the year before Ugandan independence. The green dome and the fifty acres of garden around it are a public refuge in a loud city.

   What counts as a visit

   The temple interior and the surrounding gardens.

   Access

   Checked 16 September 2026. Free, and open to visitors through the year. Guided introductions are usually available. Sunday devotions draw the largest gathering. Confirm hours locally before travelling, as the community does not publish a current visitor page.

   Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

4. 4

   Bahá'í House of Worship, Sydney

   Ingleside, New South Wales, Australia

   

   The House of Worship for Australasia, dedicated in September 1961 on a ridge at Ingleside above Sydney's northern beaches. The white dome is visible from the sea. It was the fourth continental temple built and the first in the southern hemisphere.

   What counts as a visit

   The grounds, the Information Centre and, when it reopens, the temple building itself.

   Access

   Checked 16 September 2026. Free. Grounds daily 09:00 to 17:00 and the Information Centre 10:00 to 16:00. The temple building is closed for renovation and the grounds stay open. Public devotions Sunday at 11:00, about forty minutes. Group visits by arrangement.

   Closed

   Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

5. 5

   Bahá'í House of Worship, Panama City

   Casa de Adoración Bahá'í

   Panama City, Panama

   

   The House of Worship for Latin America, opened in 1972 on the top of Cerro Sonsonate above Panama City. The exterior is faced in geometric mosaic drawn from Panamanian pattern, and like every House of Worship it has nine doors. The hill gives a long view back over the city.

   What counts as a visit

   The temple interior and the gardens on the hilltop.

   Access

   Checked 16 September 2026. Free, daily 09:00 to 18:00, with a ramp for step free access. A free shuttle runs up the hill from the gate beside San Isidro metro station, on a published timetable. Devotions Sunday at 15:00.

   Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

6. 6

   Bahá'í House of Worship, Samoa

   O le Maota Tapua'i Bahá'í

   Tiapapata, near Apia, Samoa

   

   The House of Worship for the Pacific, completed in 1984 in the hills at Tiapapata above Apia. Its dome answers the shape of a Samoan fale. The Head of State of Samoa at the time, Malietoa Tanumafili II, was himself a Bahá'í, which makes this temple's place in the country unusual.

   What counts as a visit

   The temple interior and the surrounding grounds.

   Access

   Checked 16 September 2026. Free, and open daily for private prayer. A public interfaith service is held on Sunday at 10:00 with a Samoan choir and is open to anyone. Readings are from the scriptures of several religions and there is no sermon.

   Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

7. 7

   Bahá'í House of Worship, Langenhain

   Bahá'í-Haus der Andacht

   Hofheim-Langenhain, near Frankfurt, Germany

   

   The House of Worship for Europe, dedicated in 1964 on a hill in the Taunus west of Frankfurt. Five hundred and forty diamond shaped glass panes make the dome, so the building is lit from inside at night. The state of Hesse listed it as a cultural monument in 1987.

   What counts as a visit

   The prayer hall and the visitor centre and gardens.

   Access

   Checked 16 September 2026. Free, and open to anyone regardless of religion or background. A visitor centre explains the building and the faith. Check the site for the current opening times and devotional programme.

   Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

8. 8

   Bahá'í House of Worship, Santiago

   Templo Bahá'í de Sudamérica

   Peñalolén, Santiago, Chile

   

   The House of Worship for South America, opened in 2016 in the Andean foothills at Peñalolén. It was the last of the eight continental temples to be built. Nine cast glass veils over translucent Portuguese marble change colour as the light moves, from white in the morning to amber at dusk.

   What counts as a visit

   The prayer hall and the surrounding gardens and reflecting pools.

   Access

   Checked 16 September 2026. Free and no booking needed. Entry is from Diagonal Las Torres 2000, Peñalolén. The site publishes an 'información importante' page with the current hours and conduct notes.

   Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

Respect and access

Dress modestly. Photography is usually welcome on the grounds and usually not allowed inside the prayer hall. Silence is asked for inside. A devotional programme is short, and you can sit through one without joining in. No one will ask about your religion, and choosing this route does not say anything about it.

Closed

The place is closed, temporarily or otherwise. It stays on this journey because the journey is a historical list, not a list of what is open today.

Opening times, prices, permits and eligibility change. Nothing on this page is a statement about today. Follow the Check access link on a place before you plan around it.

Sources

• bahai.orghttps://www.bahai.org/action/devotional-life/mashriqul-adhkar-bahai-houses-worship
• bahai.wshttps://www.bahai.ws/bahai-house-of-worship · checked September 16, 2026
• news.bahai.orghttps://news.bahai.org/media-information/houses-worship/
• bahai.ushttps://www.bahai.us/bahai-temple-welcome/bahai-temple/ · checked September 16, 2026
• bahaihouseofworship.inhttps://bahaihouseofworship.in/ · checked September 16, 2026
• news.bahai.orghttps://news.bahai.org/story/806/fifty-years-ugandas-bahai-temple-stands-symbol-unity-progress · checked September 16, 2026
• bahai.org.auhttps://bahai.org.au/index.php/australian-bahai-community/bahai-house-worship/visiting-bahai-house-worship/ · checked September 16, 2026
• templo.panamabahai.nethttps://templo.panamabahai.net/ · checked September 16, 2026
• bahai.dehttps://bahai.de/haus-der-andacht/ · checked September 16, 2026
• templo.bahai.clhttps://templo.bahai.cl/ · checked September 16, 2026

TravelDay selected and grouped these places. Naming a custodian, a government agency or UNESCO as a source is not a claim that any of them endorsed this journey.