Lotus Temple Timings: Hours, Best Time and Visitor Guide

I was born and raised in Delhi and in 11 years guiding the city for Experience My India I have watched the Lotus Temple become one of the most loved stops on any Delhi trip. It is not an old monument, it opened in 1986, but it is one of the most visited buildings on earth and it offers something the forts and tombs do not: a few minutes of complete silence. To make the most of it you need to get two things right, the timings and the crowds, so let me start there and then tell you what makes the place special.
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Lotus Temple timings in 2026

The Lotus Temple keeps different hours in summer and winter and it is closed every Monday, which is the detail that catches most visitors out.

Summer and winter hours

From April to September the temple is open roughly 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM and from October to March about 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM, with the last entry a little before closing. Hours can shift slightly with the season and on special occasions, so if your visit is tight on time, check the current timings before you set out.

Prayer and meditation sessions

Several times a day the temple holds a short devotional program of a few minutes, in which passages from the scriptures of different religions are read or sung, without sermons or musical instruments beyond the human voice. You are welcome to sit in on one and it is a lovely way to experience the building as it is meant to be used, as a place of prayer rather than only a photo stop.

Entry fee

Entry to the Lotus Temple is completely free and no ticket is required. There is a visitor centre near the gate that explains the building and the Bahai faith, also free to enter.

The best time to visit the Lotus Temple

This is where a little planning pays off. The Lotus Temple draws enormous crowds and on weekends, public holidays and late afternoons the queue to enter the prayer hall can stretch long and slow. Go on a weekday, as early as you can after opening and you may almost have the marble to yourself. Winter mornings are the most comfortable and the low sun on the white petals is beautiful, though the marble also glows at sunset if you do not mind the crowds. Avoid Mondays entirely, when it is closed.

What is the Lotus Temple?

The Lotus Temple is a Bahai House of Worship, opened in December 1986 and designed by the Iranian-Canadian architect Fariborz Sahba. It has won a shelf of architectural awards and, with tens of millions of visitors, ranks among the most visited buildings in the world. It sits in green gardens at Kalkaji in south Delhi and its calm is a deliberate contrast to the noise of the city around it.

The design: nine sides and 27 petals

The building takes the form of a half-open lotus, a flower held sacred across Indian traditions. Twenty-seven free-standing petals, clad in white marble from Greece, the same stone used for the Parthenon, are arranged in clusters of three to form nine sides, with nine doors opening onto a soaring central hall that seats over a thousand people. Nine reflecting pools spread out around it like water around a floating flower. The number nine recurs everywhere because, in the Bahai faith, it stands for unity and completeness.

A house of worship for all faiths

Unlike a temple, church or mosque, a Bahai House of Worship belongs to no single religion. There are no idols, no images and no clergy and no sermons are preached. People of every faith or none, are welcome to come in, sit in silence, pray or meditate as they wish and hear readings from the scriptures of all the world's great religions. That idea, of one human family and one shared source, is the whole point of the building and it is why it feels different from anywhere else in Delhi.

What to expect inside

The prayer hall is a place of silence, so conversation, phone calls and photography are not allowed inside, though you are free to photograph the exterior and the gardens as much as you like. You remove your shoes before entering, leaving them at the free counters and food is not permitted inside. Dress and behave modestly, as you would in any place of worship. Volunteers guide the flow of visitors gently and the whole visit, queue included, usually takes under an hour. The site is wheelchair accessible.

How to reach the Lotus Temple

The Lotus Temple is at Kalkaji in south Delhi and the easiest way there is the Delhi Metro. The Kalkaji Mandir station, served by both the Violet and Magenta lines, is about a five to ten minute walk away and Nehru Place is close by too. Autos and app cabs reach the gate easily. It pairs naturally with other south Delhi sights on the same side of the city.

Want the Lotus Temple worked into a smooth Delhi day, timed to miss the worst of the queues? Message me on WhatsApp with your dates and I will plan the route.

Combining the Lotus Temple with the rest of Delhi

The Lotus Temple sits in south Delhi, close to Kalkaji Mandir and not far from Humayun's Tomb and the Qutub Minar, so it slots neatly into a New Delhi and south Delhi circuit. The easy way to cover that side of the city is a New Delhi half-day tour or a full Delhi city tour if you want the old city as well and you can plan the rest with our guide to the best places to visit in Delhi.

One planning point worth repeating: the Lotus Temple, Akshardham and the Red Fort are all closed on Mondays, so build a Monday around the sites that stay open. If you are continuing to see the Taj, line Delhi up with a Delhi, Agra and Jaipur Golden Triangle tour, read how far Delhi is from Agra for the drive or browse our full range of Agra tours. Our licensed local guides at Experience My India can shape the whole day around you.

 Experience My India. He has personally hosted 50,000+ travelers and the service he leads is rated 4.9 from 2,600+ reviews, operating since 2015. Delhi Agra Tour Packages is a unit of Experience My India.