DOCUMENTARIES
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays and Saturdays at 9 pm et/pt
A mountain transformed by faith
The Opening of the Baha'i Terraces
Tuesday May 22 & Wednesday May 23 at 9pm et/pt
2 Part Special Presentation
On May 22, thousands of people from around the world will gather at the foot
of Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel to witness the official opening of the
Terraces of the Shrine of the Bab. Vision TV will broadcast highlights of
this landmark in the history of the Bahá’í faith on Tuesday, May 22
at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Further coverage will air the following evening at the same
time.
The opening of the Terraces represents the culmination of a process that
began more than a century ago, when Bahá’u’lláh, the founder of
the Bahá’ífaith, revealed a tablet designating Mount Carmel as the
spiritual and administrative centre for the new religion. The remains of the
Bab, the herald and martyr of the faith, were interred there in 1909, and his
shrine is now the second most sacred spot in the world for Bahá’ís.
The complex of buildings, gardens and holy places known as the
Bahá’í World Centre developed gradually over several decades. In
1987, the Bahá’í community moved to complete the ambitious final
phase, a series of terraced gardens on the face of Mount Carmel.
Bahá’ís around the world contributed some US$250 million to this
project.
The plan required moving thousands of cubic metres of rock to reshape the
mountain. The 19 terraces, designed by Canadian architect Fariborz Sahba,
extend a full kilometre up the slope and cover 200,000 square metres of
land. The Mount Carmel project also involved the completion of two new
administrative buildings designed by another Canadian architect, Hossein
Amanat.
A highlight of the opening ceremony will be the performance of an oratorio
and symphony composed in honour of the event. Featured vocal soloists will
include Canadians mezzo-soprano Patricia Green, tenor Stuart Howe, and
baritone Brett Polegato.
For Bahá’ís, completion of the Mount Carmel project fulfills a
dream of creating a spiritual and administrative centre that will reflect
their faith’s standards of beauty, peace and harmony, and fittingly
represent its stature as an independent world religion.
©Copyright 2001, Vision TV (Canada)
|