(22 May 2001)
May 22, 2001
1. Pull out from golden dome to steps leading up to Bahai terraced gardens
2. Pan orchestra performing at ceremony for opening of gardens
3. Close up conductor
4. Wide pan across audience
5. Performers shaking hands
6. Pan across audience applauding
7. Mid shot conductor shaking hands with leader of the orchestra - pull out to wide of scene
8. Wide shot of orchestra performing
File
9. Two aerials of gardens
10. Aerial (night shot) of gardens
STORYLINE:
A series of elaborate terraced gardens, dedicated to the Bahai prophet Bahaullah, have been opened on Israel's Mount Carmel.
The gardens, formed from the hillside of the mount in Haifa, took 10 years to create and 250 (m) million U-S dollars to develop.
According to believers, the completion of the 18 gardens of eucalyptus, olive trees, flowers and ivy marks the realisation of a century-old vision of the prophet Bahaullah.
The gardens, illuminated by 2-thousand lamps, run down a hillside in front of a gold-domed shrine.
Their opening was marked with a special orchestral and choral performance in the gardens themselves.
The music was especially written for the event by Norwegian composer Lasse Thoresen.
Followers of the Bahai faith believe the prophet Bahaullah was sent to lead humanity into an age of universal peace.
Some 130 years ago, one of the religion's founders, the Bab - who foretold the coming of the prophet Bahaullah - was shot to death in Iran along with 20-thousand followers.
Islamic clergy apparently felt threatened by the growing popularity of the religion, and a few years later, Bahaullah was exiled from Iran to Acre, near Haifa, in what was then Ottoman-ruled Palestine.
He was kept there under house arrest until his death in 1892.
While under arrest, Bahaullah wrote poems, ethical and social teachings and mystical writings, which form the basis of the religion.
The world's five (m) million Bahai are scattered throughout the globe and teach the importance of abandoning all prejudice and recognising the equality of the sexes and the common themes of all religions.
Bahais are still considered heretics in Iran and aren't recognised in the Iranian constitution as a religious minority.
Before he died in Acre, Bahaullah pointed across a bay to Mount Carmel in Haifa and said that the Bab's remains should be buried there and a shrine built.
The structure was first built on the site in 1909 and improvements and additions have been made ever since.
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