European Buddhist temples

European Buddhist temples

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Since we have a thread about European mosques, what about a thread about European Buddhist temples? Show us the Buddhist temples in your city, if there are any.

I'll start with Paris. Paris has several Buddhist temples, which is not surprising considering it has the largest Eastern Asian community in Europe. I don't know all the Buddhist temples in Greater Paris, so I'm only showing those I know here (one Cambodian/Laotian, one Tibetan, one Chinese, and one Vietnamese).

The most famous is the Buddhist pagoda in the Bois de Vincennes. It was originally the Pavillion of Cameroon during the International Colonial Exhibition of 1931, but it has been converted into a Buddhist temple. It caters mainly to the South-East Asian community, particularly the Cambodians and the Laotians. It contains the largest statue of Buddha in Europe, measuring 9 meters, and entirely covered with gold leaves.







The back of the temple as seen from the Daumesnil Lake (one of my favorite places in Paris; the lake is much larger than what you can see on the picture):


During a Khmer festival staged by the Cambodian community at the temple:


Next to the Cameroon pavillion turned pagoda is the Tibetan temple of Kagyu-Dzong.











In the high-rise Chinatown of the 13th arrondissement is a Buddhist temple that caters more specifically to the Chinese community:











Last but not least, in the southern suburbs the Vietnamese community is building the Khanh-Anh pagoda, the largest Buddhist pagoda in Europe. The tiles come from traditional craftsmen in southern China, the golden statue of Buddha (4 meters high and weighing 5 tonnes, 5 tonnes of bronze that is (!), covered with gold leaves) was made in Thailand. Thai workers are now on site doing roofing and tiling, after much problems obtaining visas from the French government. Finally the Daila Lama will tour the pagoda on August 12 this year, and give his blessing to the building. So as you can see it's very international, even though it will cater especially to the Vietnamese community.

Work is due to completed by 2010.

In May 2007:






In May 2008, Vesak holiday, with South Vietnamese flags:






In June 2008:


In July 2008:

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"Mais comment tu peux admirer Marie-Claude ? Elle a complètement raté sa vie. Elle a rien fait. Elle habite en province !" — Overheard in the Bois de Boulogne on August 4, 2008. (www.entenduaparis.info)

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Last edited by brisavoine; August 5th, 2008 at 03:23 AM.

 

 

 

 Buddhapadipa temple in Wimbledon, London, UK.



Manchester Buddhist centre, combines a temple with book store, cafe, education centre etc. There are similar buddhist centres in other UK cities.

 

 

 This is a photo that I took of a Buddhist Stupa in the suburbs of Birmingham, UK. I'm not an expert but it looks like the Thai style to me.



I'll dig out some other UK temple photos later

 

 

 Amavarati Buddhist temple, near Hemel Hempstead, UK

 

 

 Manchester Buddhist centre, combines a temple with book store, cafe, education centre etc. There are similar buddhist centres in other UK cities.



Japanese style temple near Milton Keynes

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In western Europe the oldest Buddhist temple is apparently the Vietnamese pagoda of Fréjus, southern France, which was built there in 1917 for the Vietnamese soldiers fighting for France in WW1 who trained at the Fréjus military camp.

It was greatly enlarged after 1954 when many Vietnamese refugees arrived in France.

__________________

"Mais comment tu peux admirer Marie-Claude ? Elle a complètement raté sa vie. Elle a rien fait. Elle habite en province !" — Overheard in the Bois de Boulogne on August 4, 2008. (www.entenduaparis.info)

 

 

 

__________________

"Mais comment tu peux admirer Marie-Claude ? Elle a complètement raté sa vie. Elle a rien fait. Elle habite en province !" — Overheard in the Bois de Boulogne on August 4, 2008. (www.entenduaparis.info)