Jocks Need A Thai Temple !

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Cash and land hunt to Thai up temple bid

JASON CUMMING

A THAI Buddhist temple is set to be built in Edinburgh.

Backers hope to recreate the magnificence of Bangkok’s famous Wat Po Temple at a city site. If built, it would be only the second Thai Buddhist temple in Europe.

The Scottish Thai community has launched a £1 million campaign to get the project off the ground.

The 500-strong local community has previously been forced to worship at a house in Gorgie Road before relocating to a rented farm near Pathhead, Midlothian, at the weekend.

Two monks - Phramaha Wisit Panyawattano, and Phramaha Saworn Sangvaro - are now based on the farm.

Yongyut Suayngam, chairman of the Thai-Scottish Association, today acknowledged that the rocketing cost of property in Edinburgh was proving to be a major obstacle in the group’s fledgling bid to establish a permanent temple called Wat Dhammapadipa.

He said: "We’re trying to find a site so we can build a Buddhist temple. The building will be similar in style to a monastery in Thailand. The price of property in and around Edinburgh is high and therefore the costs of building this temple will be very high.

"It’s a long-term project and at the moment we haven’t had any funding from the Thai government, but hopefully in the future we might.

Community leaders are looking to identify a plot of several acres either in or near the Capital, but stress it must be "remote enough to provide a sense of peace and tranquility".

Built in the traditional Thai style, the facility is expected to boast living space for at least five Buddhist monks, a prayer room to accommodate 30 people, space for religious and cultural lessons and a large garden area for meditation.

The group has raised about £7000 to date through private donations and at last month’s Songkran Thai New Year festivities held in Portobello.

Mr Suayngam, who runs the Lanna Thai Restaurant in Musselburgh, acknowledged that the project’s Eastern architecture could face opposition from heritage chiefs and neighbours depending on the building’s final design and proposed location.

He added: "Hopefully we won’t have that problem." The only purpose-built Thai Buddhist temple in Europe is located in Wimbledon.

Known as Wat Buddhapadipa, it was built in 1976.

Last year, the temple received two Buddha images shipped from Thailand, which were intended to be the focal point for permanent temples in Edinburgh and Cardiff.

Buddhists of other backgrounds across the city today also embraced the early plans.

Although the Kagyu Samye Ling Tibetan Centre near Langholm in the Borders was the first Buddhist monastery outside of Asia, Edinburgh has never previously featured a permanent temple.

Elisabeth Robyn, co-ordinator of the monastery’s local outpost, said: "There are quite a few Buddhists living in Edinburgh.

"Scotland has the biggest Buddhist monastery in the West and a large number of people visit the centre in the Borders.

"We meditate wherever we are - in our homes, on the bus or in the streets but, of course, it would be better to have a proper temple. It would be conducive to creating a closer community and would be very beneficial."

The situation appears to echo the battle faced by Edinburgh’s Muslim community to find a long-term home.

In April 1977, the old Edinburgh District Council refused planning permission for a mosque in Newington’s Mayfield Gardens following objections from local residents and claims the scheme was out of character with residential buildings in the area.

The foundation stone of the Islamic Centre of Edinburgh in Potterrow was eventually laid in 1987, but the project faced financial problems and technical hitches, with the building not officially opening until July 1998.

But Mountcastle councillor and Muslim community leader Shami Khan suggested that identifying funding was likely to prove to be the biggest hurdle for the Buddhist temple project.

He said: "I wish them well but it will likely be a struggle to raise money. The Thai community is not all that large in Scotland. At the end of the day, if there had been no help from the Saudi government, our mosque would have never been built."

Buddism is the oldest of the major religions, dating from about 500BC.