The Lotus Temple is a Baháʼí House of Worship, that stands on the western bank of the Yamuna River in Delhi. <br> The Lotus Temple is open to all, regardless of religion or any other qualification, as is the case with all Bahá’í Houses of Worship. All Baháʼí Houses of Worship, including the Lotus Temple, must be nine-sided and circular. <br><br> The Temple gives the impression of a half-open lotus flower, afloat, surrounded by its leaves. It is composed of 27 free-standing marble-clad "petals" arranged in clusters of three. It has nine sides, with nine doors opening onto a central hall. There are walkways all around the lotus with curved balustrades, bridges, and stairs, surrounding the nine pools. These pools represent the floating leaves of the lotus. <br><br> The central hall has the capacity to seat 1,300 people and hold up to 2,500 people. The central hall 34.3 is metres talland the temple has a diameter of 70m. <br> The temple is set amidst nine surrounding ponds and gardens on a plot of about 26.6 acres.