NewBuddhist temple
The Cambodian New Year – Chaul Chnam Thmey – is to be celebrated on Saturday at a new Bunnythorpe Buddhist temple.
Chanting, dancing Khmer food will be occasion.
Five months ago Manawatu Khmer Cambodians banded together and bought a modest, near- 100- yearold house in Bunnythorpe to serve as a temple.
Having their own special place locally, they no longer have to travel to Island Bay to Buddachaya Mahanath Khmer Temple.
The temple is called Wat Buddhachey Mongkol. In the Khmer language it roughly means Temple of Continuing Merit.
The temple will serve not only as a religious and spiritual centre but as a place for community activities and to celebrate the rich Khmer culture.
The Buddhism practised at Buddachey Mongkol is the Theravadan tradition which translates as the way of the elders. These are the original teachings of Buddha from more than 2500 years ago.
Resident monk Pang Savien hails from Battambang in Cambodia. He has been a monk for eight years and arrived in New Zealand seven months ago.
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His family are living at temples around the country.
He is able to converse with the Thai, Lao, Sri Lankan and Burmese and now a few Kiwis who also follow the Theravadan Buddhist teachings. Around 50 people regularly use the here. other Bunnythorpe temple and they are welcoming anyone to join them in their celebration on Saturday.
Most Cambodians in New Zealand arrived as refugees from the horrors of the Pol Pot regime where more than 2 million people, or one in seven Cambodians, died.