Buddhapadipa Thai Temple, Wimbledon, London

Interview (for dissertation): Phramaha Sangthong Dhammacaro, "English Influence on Thai Buddhist Architecture", interviewed by Ross Hennigan at Buddhapadipa Thai Temple in Wimbledon, London When was the temple built? Building started in 1979 and was finished in 1982. Thai artists volunteered to decorate inside, which took 4 years. How many volunteers were there? There were 76, including the number one artist in Thailand. Do you believe the temple’s architecture relates to the original Buddhist temples in terms of its architecture? Not directly, because it is a Thai Buddhist Temple. The architecture is Thai and is to reflect that of the main Thai Temple in Bangkok. We couldn’t do a full size temple, because of planning permission. The architecture of Thai Temples is the way that it is because of how Buddhism adjusted to Thailand. But the temple here still reflects the Buddhist traditions that come from India. I mean in the way that things are laid out, the order that things come, the hierarchy. Are Buddhists who worship here content with the temple in terms of its architecture? Yes, because the architecture relates strongly to the Thai roots. People come to learn about Buddhism and the architecture helps with the experience. Also, the environment is calm and quiet, which enriches the experience. What is your opinion of the English influence on Buddhism? English Buddhists do come here. Buddhism is growing in England. People do like to learn since it is another faith. In the 19th century, Buddhism came to England. First, the Zen tradition, then the Tibetan. In 1965, the teacher at this temple was invited to England to teach Buddhism and it was in 1976 that this land was bought. So is there no trace of English architecture at all on the temple? No, all completely Thai architecture, but inside on the walls, there are modern paintings of famous London landmarks like Big Ben and people like Big Ben, Margaret Thatcher and Charlie Chaplin. How many Buddhists worship here? The temple has open access at all times, so people come and go as they wish. Consequently it is hard to keep track of exactly how many people come. We have a Sunday school, which approximately 200 people come to. Do you believe that Buddhism has the same influence on architecture today is it has in the past? Slightly different, because of materialism. There were once trees and now people here have money. But because of the modern age, there is the technology needed to make a good temple. The Buddha teaches that everything is impermanent and everything changes according to the time.

Following the interview, I was allowed to explore the grounds of the temple.The temple has a rich backstory, which was revealed in the interview with resident Thai Buddhist teacher Phramaha Sangthong Dhammacaro. Although a Buddhist temple, its architecture relates more to the Thai architecture style rather than the traditional Buddhist architecture, which existed in India, but is still a sustained missionary effort. However, in terms of being a traditional temple, the tenets have been applied in the design. The temple is situated centrally in the land plot and a clear boundary is situated around the site with the tall trees as well as a white stone walled entrance from the road. At the entrance, as described earlier in the paragraph about the traditions of Buddhist temple architecture, there are two forbidding statues that guard the entrance to the temple. Despite the fact that this temple had only been established in 1982, it is good to see that Buddhist traditions still exist in this place. The natural aesthetics shown in pics 6 to 8 allow dwellers of the temple to reflect and be away from the man made environment of buildings. This environment is a rare sight in the urban landscape and allows the urban demographic to indulge in a change of atmosphere to the norm.

Their original plan in 1979 was to reproduce the architecture of Wat Pho, the oldest Thai Buddhist temple in the world. Despite not being as large, Buddhapadipa is still considered a traditional Thai temple in terms of architecture as well as the interior design.What can be observed in Pic 3 is that the interior follows the traditions as established in Bodh Gaya (the first real Buddhist temple in India), but it has evolved. There are three Buddhist statues which represent the evolutionof Buddhism. In Buddhism, three types of Buddha are recognised; 1. Samyaksambuddha 2. Pratyekabuddha 3. Śrāvakabuddha Bodh Gaya shows only one since it was there that the Buddha had achieved enlightenment. This is what is known as the Samyaksambuddha, since these kinds of Buddhas achieve enlightenment by themselves and at that time was the birth of Buddhism. The other two didn’t exist yet. A Pratyekabuddha is similar to this, but teach only of conduct and not enlightenment. A Śrāvakabuddha is a disciple of the first kind of Buddha who can go on and teach others (http://www.thetaobums.com, 31stJuly, 2011).

Therefore, the three statues represent the evolution of Buddhism as it relates to the way of life, because in life, we learn about how we should live and we can then go on to teach others, or go off on our own journeys. This is the essence of Buddhist philosophy. Despite the amount of time that has passed, Buddhapadipa indicates that Buddhism still has a strong architectural influence since, as Dhammacaro went on to explain, London’s Buddhists are content with the temple in terms of its architecture. Reference: http://www.thetaobums.com/index.php?/topic/19309-fanaticalbuddhists/page__st__208, 31st July, 2011