A COMFORTABLE 50 persons gathered at the National Baha'i headquarters on Monday, to attend the send-off party for some nineteen Jamaican representatives.
The representatives (comprising two Guyanese and an American native) have since left Jamaica for Haifa, Israel. They will on Tuesday, gather at the foot of Mount Carmel to witness the opening of the Terraces of the Shrine of the Bab, a project which begun ten years ago that has transformed the ancient barren face of the mountain into 19 majestic terraced gardens cascading down the length of the mountain.
The Baha'i Faith, founded in 1844, is the most recent of the world's monotheistic religions. Its founder, Baha u'llah, spent the latter years of His life in the Holy Land as a prisoner of the Ottoman Turks, and the Faith's administrative and spiritual headquarters were established in what are today the twin cities of Acre and Haifa of modern Israel. The Baha'is have built world-class gardens to adorn the golden-domed Shrine of the Bab, the second most holy spot of their Faith. These gardens also provide thousands of visitors with a contemplative space in which ordered flowerbeds, fountains, and flowing water give way to natural perimeters of trees and shrubs. They are an oasis of tranquillity in the heart of a bustling port city. Following the official opening the gardens will be open at no cost to the public daily.
To mark the opening of the Terraces, an oratorio and a symphony have been composed, respectively, by Norwegian composer Lasse Thoresen and Tajik composer Tolib Shahidi. The Israel Northern Symphony, Haifa, under the direction of Stanley Sperber, accompanied acclaimed instrumental and vocal soloists from Canada, Austria, and the United States, backed by the Transylvania State choir from Cluj, Romania. The original orchestral works will climax with the spectacular inaugural lighting of the Terraces, building light upon light like strings of pearls draped around the illumined Shrine.
The evening's events will be available to television stations around the world via a satellite feed.
