Thai Buddhist Temple, London

In a quest to explore more of London and its wonderful, diverse multiculturalism , I found myself this week visiting two Thai Buddhist temples in London: the well known Buddhapadipada Thai Temple in Wimbledon and the much smaller, lesser known Wat Buddharam in Wanstead.

The photographs above and below are all from the Buddhapadipada Temple in Wimbledon. I will post the photographs from Wat Buddharam tomorrow.

The Buddhapadipada Temple is simply, in a word, beautiful. It is set on 4 acres of leafy gardens with the magnificent temple (Uposatha Hall) rising majestically above the lake and the House where the resident Dhammaduta monks live. The grounds and House are open to the public during the week, with the Uposatha Hall open only on weekends (unless by prior arrangement). The Temple is a place for worship and for meditation, classes and retreats. They also hold Thai language schools for children on Sundays.

The Temple is a peaceful, welcoming place where you will embraced no matter what your background or religion. I met the lovely Rose, a Thai lady who helps out at the Temple most days of the week, who encouraged me to take tea and sit with one of the nine monks who currently live at the Temple (photographs above and below). The monk, whose name I didn't catch, has been in the UK for the last six years. He was born in Thailand and it was his grandfather who wished that he become a monk. He was ordained when he was 20. We chatted about his life as a monk, the hardships and difficulties, his daily routine (exhausting from my point of view!) and his family back in Thailand. We also talked about Australia and the terrible fires in Victoria.

The baby in the first photograph is 6 months old and was on his first visit to the Wimbledon temple. He had just been back to Thailand with his mum and dad where he had his head shaved as part of the Buddhist ceremony to welcome the new baby into the family.