Visiting the Bahai Temple

A couple of people suggested that I visit the Bahá’í Temple here in Panama, and so when an English Language Fellow (another program, like Fulbright, run by the U.S. State Department) expressed interest, I made it a date. 

Here's the plan:  We'll meet at the San Isidro Metro station shortly before 11:45 a.m Sunday (April 27), and take the Temple Bus to the temple itself.  For more detail, see https://templo.panamabahai.net/

That site says El Templo Bahá’í is open to all, free, Mon-Sun, 9 to 6.  They offer free transportation from the San Isidro metro to the Temple.  Directions to the bus:  "bájate en la estación de San Isidro y camina unos cuantos pasos, verás un gran portón negro."  That is, "Get off at San Isidro station and walk a few steps, you will see a large black gate."

The directions online on how to get there were surprisingly helpful (even listing the times for hopping on the free shuttle from the metro to the temple).  And to my delight, when I got to the San Isidro station, one of the signs pointed the way to the temple. Panama can be really hard to navigate; there are seldom street signs; metro stations don't have maps of the surrounding neighborhood; buildings don't have numbers posted.  So these small details --- clear online directions and easy-to-read signs in the metro --- were pleasant surprises.  This delightful helpfulness (correctly) boded well for a lovely tour to come.

The sign saying (translated):
"San Isidro Station; exit to the Bahá’í Temple".

We weren't sure in advance what the online directions meant by "a large black gate", but just outside the metro station, we saw this.

A large black gate. 
The sign on the wall to the right gives the times
the shuttle runs to the Bahá’í Temple, 
so I guess that this is the right place!

Just through those black gates was a covered bus stand with a single bench and yet another sign with shuttle hours, so we figured that was the place to wait. The shuttle showed up about 5 minutes later than the scheduled time; it did a 3-point turn (really, more like a 5-point turn) along this narrow alley, which was when we realized the narrow alley was really the road up to the temple.  

The road up to the Temple was very Panama: steep, windy, narrow, full of ruts and potholes.  It was also full of magnificent views of the surrounding area. The temple itself is an oval-shaped dome: not the classical sphere, but more like a parabola.  It's quite striking.

The temple, from the parking lot.  
We'll come back something interesting about that star
in the circle in front of the temple later. 
Can you see what that is?

 Outside the temple, the nearby trees were trimmed to reflect the shape of the dome.

Around the outside of the temple are walls that extend a bit like arms giving you a hug, and they meet under the dome at some pretty interesting gates.  

The walls look like brick, but they're really Italian red marble.
The shape on each stone are from PreColombian designs;
They look to me like people ascending stone staircases.

The gates are made of metal work
with a really interesting 3D structure;
there's a bit of a hyperbolic paraboloid going on here.

We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the temple; it was an impressive space.  It was a roughly round area, whose boundary alternated white walls and the large, open gates.  It was therefore, completely open to the air, and because we were at the top of a huge hill, there were lovely breezes blowing through.  

The center of this circular space had wooden pews all facing the same direction; at the front of those pews there was no altar or stage or other particular artwork; just a simple podium.  There were two spiral staircases (cordoned off) that led up to a balcony encircling the space; around the balcony were the same stones with Pre-Columbian designs that we saw on the walls outside. 

The geometry of the space delighted me: the quirky asymmetric shapes on those stones, for example, and the unusual structure of the ironwork on the gates.  There was a star on the ceiling matching the one on the grass outside.  I did a quick count of the gates, and of the points of the stars . . . except it's tricky to count things in a circle, so "quick" isn't the best descriptor.  I realized that the whole place had a 9-fold symmetry.  That's really unusual!  In fact, it's not possible to construct a symmetric 9-sided polygon with ruler and compass.  So this choice of symmetry really adds to the mystique of the place for a mathematician like me.

It turns out, "9" is deliberate, and considered a holy number because (says the brochure), there are 9 digits.  I disagree with the reasoning, but I still like the cool geometry it inspires.

Wandering along the paths outside later.
You can see by the grass that we're reaching the end of the
"dry" season (it only rained twice this week).
In the distance, city and ocean.

I didn't realize how special it is to get to see a Bahá’í Temple until after we got here.  There are actually only eight of them in the world (the lone one in the U.S. is just north of Chicago).  They're all on hills, and all 9-sided.

More views of the city, and more views of nearby hills.
Panama has a lot of hills that remind me of upside-down cupcakes
on a larger sheet cake, if that makes sense.

After spending some time inside the temple, we walked around the grounds, making sure (as requested) to stay on the paved walkways so as not to damage the grass.  At one point, a woman who worked/volunteered at the site invited us in to the visitor's lounge in the nearby administrative building to see a 15-minute film about the Bahá’í religion.  We could choose among many languages; we chose Spanish (which turned out to be Spanish from Spain, not from the Americas).  Judging by the clothing of the European/American people shown, much of this video was made in the 1970s, but that didn't matter because a good religion is timeless; the video was a really helpful overview.  

Another view hills and far off buildings.

The video, pamphlet, and general experience of being there reinforced what little I'd learned of the Bahá’í faith from a colleague of mine back in the U.S.  It is incredibly warm, gentle, focused on justice and inclusivity (the word "Unity" is used a lot: unity of people, of religions).  Service to humanity is one of the central tenets, too.  We definitely felt welcomed there.

After our video, we took the shuttle back down the hill, braved the sprinkling rain that was just starting up to make our way around the corner to the metro station, and headed home.  I'm glad I got to see this place!