Baha'i World Centre, Haifa, Israel
I was invited to the Baha'i World Centre for consultations on 14 June and
permitted to stay for an additional three days, returning on 18 June.
I gave a seminar for senior staff, and met with the External Affairs Policy
Committee, the Institute for the Study of Global Prosperity, the Office of
Public Discourse and the Office of Social and Economic Development. I also
could catch up with friends and have interesting conversations in the
cafeteria at lunchtime. The rest of the time was free, and gave me the
opportunity to create a new photo album on the Baha'i Holy Places and
gardens, both on Mount Carmel in Haifa, and across the bay in Bahji. Since
the Shrine of the Bab was being restored and under scaffolding during my
pilgrimage in 2010, and the weather this time was perfect, I was able to
capture the full beauty of these wonderful places for the first time since
my first pilgrimage in 1960 and visit in 1968. I was put up just across the
street from the Pilgrim House and the Shrine of the Bab, and had a key to
the gardens, so I could go where I wanted, in addition to time praying in
the Holy Shrines. I climbed the nine upper terraces one day, and went down
the nine lower terraces another. A good friend was driving to Bahji one
afternoon, so I was able to go with him and his family to visit and pray at
the Shrine of Baha'u'llah, see the extended gardens at Bahji, and have
dinner in Akka as well.
The Shrine of the Bab on Mount Carmel
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Views of the Shrine and its surrounding gardens; me near the Shrine
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Terrace behind the Shrine; view from the Shrine over Haifa and the
bay
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Gardens near the Shrine
Details of the Shrine and gardens
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Detail of the Shrine; worker patiently reparing an object in the
garden; element of decoration from the Baha'i House of Worship in WIlmette
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Pilgrim House and nearby cactus garden
The upper terraces
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Views up the nine terraces to the top of Mount Carmel
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First terraces behind the Shrine of the Bab, where the road passes
underneath; link to the buildings on the Arc
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Blending of the formal gardens with nature; start of the upper
terraces; Archives building
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Climbing the terraces; some terraces have mineature bonsai tree
arrangements
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The terraces rise steeply up the mountainside
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Further terraces; another bonsai; blending into the original
vegetation of the mountainside
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Views of Haifa from further up the mountainside
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From the upper terraces, one can look down on the buildings on the
Arc
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Reaching the top, with the viewpoint for visitors
The lower terraces
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Starting from the Shrine of the Bab, there are nine terraces down to
Ben Gurion Avenue
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Looking down and up from the ninth terrace
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Each terrace is separated by flights of stairs
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Again, some of the terraces have miniature arrangements with bonsai
trees
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Looking up and down; dwarf olive tree
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The terraces are well isolated from the adjacent city
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The bottom terraces; maintaining a perfect lawn on a steep
slope is not easy, but the volunteer gardeners do it well
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The bottom terrace and fountains rejoin the city beyond the gates
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Views of the bottom terrace
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The tent grove where Baha'u'llah pitched his tent when visiting Mount
Carmel
The monument gardens
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Monument to the Greatest Holy Leaf, daughter of Baha'u'llah;
monuments to His wife Navvab and His son, the Purest Branch
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The monuments are at the centre of the Arc; monument to the wife of
'Abdu'l-Baha
Monuments to Baha'u'llah's wife and son
The Baha'i World Centre buildings on the
Arc
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The Seat of the Universal House of Justice; its entrance
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The Archives Building at one end of the Arc
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The Centre for the Study of the Texts
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The International Teaching Centre; its entrance; a side garden
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Views of the buildings from the centre of the Arc
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Looking down on the Archives Building, the International Teaching
Centre and the Shrine of the Bab from the terraces
The Shrine of Baha'u'llah at Bahji
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Entrance to the Shrine of Baha'u'llah; the room where Baha'u'llah is
buried
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Views of the Shrine of Baha'u'llah from which the gardens radiate in
all directions
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Shrine of Baha'u'llah and adjacent buildings
The Mansion of Baha'u'llah at Bahji
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The Mansion where Baha'u'llah spent his last years, even though still
a prisoner
The gardens around the Shrine of
Baha'u'llah
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Gardens adjacent to the Mansion
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An eagle near the Mansion; existing trees did not alter the formal
layout of the gardens
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The gardens radiate in all directions; some are not watered because
of the drought
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Gardens near the Shrine
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Gardens by the Shrine; the main entrance from the Collins Gate to the
Shrine of Baha'u'llah
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Gardens by the Mansion and Shrine
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New gardens completing the circle