Wat

Preah Buddha Rangsey Temple


Preah Buddha Rangsey Temple (វត្ដព្រះពុទ្ធរង្សី), also spelled Phra Buddha Ransi Temple, is a Cambodian Theravada Buddhist temple in South Philadelphia.[1][2] Its name means "Blessed Buddha." The temple stands at the corner of Sixth and Ritner Streets and is one of two Cambodian Buddhist temples in Philadelphia.[3]

History

Cambodians came to Philadelphia in the 1980s and 1990s, escaping the Khmer Rouge and the aftermath of the Killing Fields.[4] The temple dates its founding to February 13, 2003, by His Holiness Sin Wat Sakyamuni, a master in a lineage of Cambodian teachers.[1][3] A 2017 account in The Voorhees Sun instead credits the monk Muni Rath with founding the Philadelphia temple in 2003.[5] The temple began on Fifth Street.[6]

In 2003 the Khmer Buddhist Humanitarian Association bought the former Saint Andrews Lutheran Church, built in 1904. The building had a sinking foundation and a collapsing roof, and its courtyard was overgrown. Temple members alone paid for about eight years of rebuilding, which left the building 90 percent new, and the resident monks rebuilt and finished the hardwood floors on all three stories.[4] The temple was built without government funds or grants.[7] The temple moved into the building in 2005 and filled to capacity soon after it officially opened that year.[6][4] The association then bought the former Adath Shalom synagogue across the street.[4]

People from South Jersey were part of the congregation, and this led the temple to expand into Voorhees Township, New Jersey. The order sought zoning variances for a site at 1234 Haddonfield-Berlin Road in 2014 and broke ground in July 2016, after nearly two years of zoning work. The property covers about 6.9 hectares (17 acres). In 2017 four monks lived in a house on the land, construction depended on donations, and the new temple had no set completion date.[5] The Khmer Buddhist Humanitarian Association lists both the Philadelphia address and the Voorhees address.[8] As of 2024 the temple had locations in Philadelphia and Voorhees.[1]

Architecture

The temple's gated front was designed to look like traditional Cambodian temples, with gilded surfaces and dvarapala, guardian figures.[4] Red and gold gates mark the entrance, and Cambodian lions guard the entrance stairs.[3][4] A highly decorated cement fence surrounds the temple. Murals, bas-reliefs and sculptures cover the corner and nearly half the block, and life-size sculptures of stages in the Buddha's life extend onto the sidewalks and across the street.[9]

Inside the former church, the first floor is used mainly for dining and celebrations. The second floor holds a large two-room space for prayer and meditation, and the third floor belongs to the monks.[4] Many rooms hold altars with Buddha images and murals of Cambodian landscapes.[9] The temple keeps copies of Pali Buddhist texts.[3]

The former synagogue across the street is used for community meetings, funeral ceremonies and monks' quarters, and it was changed very little. Hebrew inscriptions remain, and a blue concrete relief of the Ten Commandments in Hebrew still sits above the doorway. Inside, Buddha murals are the work of Eang Mao, the temple's resident artist and a graduate of the University of the Arts. The second floor holds mahogany-and-glass memorial niches for members who have died.[4]

Religious life

In 2018 and again in 2024 eight monks lived at the temple.[6][3] They chant in Pali, sometimes with Khmer translations during public meditations. Each day at 11 a.m. they receive food and alms from lay people, a practice called pindapata. In the afternoons they study Buddhist texts and meditate, and they share the daily work of keeping the temple, gardens and artwork. The monks live on donations and do not own cell phones.[3][6] They go to hospitals and use conventional medicine along with meditation when they are ill.[3]

The temple offers daily prayer and meditation, and its practice includes chanting and walking around sacred objects. Uposatha, the weekly observance day, is held at 6 p.m. once a week by the lunar calendar.[3][6] The rains retreat, or vassa, begins in the summer, and a large Katina festival of yellow robes and offerings comes late in the year. The community also celebrates Vesak with other Buddhist communities in Philadelphia.[3] The temple places particular weight on teaching young people of Cambodian descent their spiritual traditions.[3]

Community

The temple is the headquarters of the Khmer Buddhist Humanitarian Association, which provides community services for Cambodian Philadelphians.[6] In 2014 Muni Ratana was the temple's chief monk and the association's president, and Yun Or was its vice-chairman. Muni Ratana was still chief monk in 2023.[4][7] When he came to Philadelphia, he saw that the Cambodian community needed services, support and a place to keep its culture and religion.[7]

The temple estimated its membership at about 4,000 in 2014, and gave a figure of 3,500 to 4,000 in 2017.[4][9] In 2014 members traveled from Camden, Cherry Hill and Harrisburg, which had no temple, and Muni Ratana called it Philadelphia's largest temple. Chinese, Vietnamese, Lao and Thai worshippers come as well as Cambodians.[4] In 2018 ceremonies drew up to 100 people.[6]

Alongside worship and cultural preservation, the temple community has provided social services, human-rights protection, language and computer training, and charitable outreach.[4] In 2018 a monk explained that the temple helps members who do not speak English understand the United States health care system and find medical care, and that it offers medical translation, which he saw as especially important for elderly people.[6] Through the association, the temple takes part in local food drives and health fairs.[3] Yun Or said that after the monks moved in, shootings, attacks and killings in the nearby park fell to less than 10 percent of their earlier level.[4]

Associations

Khmer Buddhist Humanitarian Association (associated organization).[10] Organization details: Khmer Buddhist Humanitarian Association.
The temple is documented as the association’s headquarters. Its broader community-services identity is maintained on a separate organization page.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Preah Buddha Rangsey Temple, About
  2. ↑ Wikipedia, Preah Buddha Rangsey Temple
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 William & Mary, American Buddhism: Preah Buddha Rangsey Temple (2024)
  4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 Hidden City Philadelphia, Transcendental Renovation (April 8, 2014)
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Voorhees Sun, Voorhees' first Cambodian Buddhist temple works towards fruition (September 29, 2017)
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 The Jivaka Project, Location Finder: Preah Buddha Rangsey (2018)
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 OCF Realty, Preah Buddha Rangsey Cambodians Temple in South Philly (2023)
  8. ↑ BuddhaNet, World Buddhist Directory: United States of America
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 WHYY, Exploring South Philadelphia's Preah Buddhist Temple (August 18, 2017)
  10. ↑ Location Finder - The Jivaka Project

Sources

Retrieved from "https://dev.khmerconnection.com/w/index.php?title=Preah_Buddha_Rangsey_Temple&oldid=8213"
This page was last edited on 27 September 2026, at 00:13.