Beyond the Dome: New film chronicles journey of House of Worship from construction to modern day

A new film commissioned by the national governing body of the Baha’is of Australia, the National Spiritual Assembly, has chronicled the journey of Australia’s Baha’i House of Worship from its construction through to its modern-day use. 

The film, titled Beyond the Dome, features exclusive footage from when the Baha’i House of Worship was first constructed, and includes special interviews from individuals local to Sydney who speak to the Temple’s significance. 

The Sydney Baha’i House of Worship first opened in Ingleside in 1961 and is a prominent landmark high above Sydney’s northern beaches. The native gardens and natural bushland surrounding the Temple provide a tranquil environment for individual prayer, meditation, contemplation and reflection, with the space open to people of all walks of life. 

Ingleside resident, Philip Lipski, says his family settled in Manly in 1805. In about 1957, there came news that they were digging “a ginormous hole up in Ingleside”. 

“All of us wondered what they were doing,” he says. “We found out it was for a religious group I’d never heard of called the Baha’i.” 

“I don’t know what it is about that part of Ingleside but there is a stillness like a holiness and it does hover in that spot,” Philip says. “There’s no word for it. It’s just a peace. It’s as though God whoever he was, has put his hand down and said – ‘that’s our spot’.” 

Lane Cove’s Shirrine Rohanian says the House of Worship has always been a place of calm, prayer and meditation and reflection. 

“Many of these neighbourhoods will bring busloads or carloads of their neighbours or friends to the House of Worship and we know this is a place for all, regardless of religious affiliation, gender or culture,” she says. “It really is that place that all can come and unite.” 

Jefree Newton says to him, the Temple is home. A place where he feels comfortable. 

“[It’s where we can] have the spirituality and share it and bring it back to the neighbourhood,” he says. “There’s all these forces that try to tear us apart, but what we gotta remember is … we got to keep our high standard. If we come here to worship God, we should also take that back to the community.” 

After more than 60 years, the National Spiritual Assembly is calling on the Baha’i community to raise funds as part of a new project called the Dayspring of Light – dedicated to repairing and beautifying the Temple and its surrounding grounds. 

The new film, which includes words from the treasurer of the National Spiritual Assembly as well as the Baha’i House of Worship’s Temple director and its groundskeeper, speaks to the importance of this next step in the Temple’s journey as “one of the most vital institutions in the world”.  

“The task that we’re now undertaking is commensurately large,” says National Spiritual Assembly treasurer, Anton Jones. “The beautification of the grounds is well beyond what was possible for the believers in that time. Yet they sacrificed in an extraordinary way. 

“In today’s community, the parallel is, what will that sacrifice be? How will the friends arise? Only Baha’is are given this privilege.” 

The institution of the Baha’i House of Worship, or Mashriqu’l-Adhkar, translates to ‘The Dawning Place of the Mention of God’. It was ordained by Bahá’u’lláh Himself and is a pivotal concept of Baha’i community life, giving concrete expression to the unity of devotion and service. 

Watch the full video below: