Wat

Vatt Buddhikarama (Silver Spring)

វត្តពុទ្ធិការាម


Vatt Buddhikarama (វត្តពុទ្ធិការាម) is a Theravada Buddhist temple on New Hampshire Avenue in Silver Spring, Maryland.[1][2] Also written Wat Buddhikaram, it is the headquarters temple of The Cambodian Buddhist Society, Inc., which calls it the first Cambodian Buddhist temple established in the United States.[1][3] It is a place of worship and a community center for Cambodian Americans across Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.[1][4][5]

History

The temple was founded by Cambodian Buddhists who fled their country in the 1970s. Under the Khmer Rouge, monks were executed in large numbers, and the regime tried to remove Buddhism from Cambodian life.[4] The temple was built after the Khmer Rouge took power in 1975, to give newly arrived refugees a place to worship, and the group became one of the first Buddhist communities in the Washington area.[2][4]

Cambodians living in Oxon Hill, Maryland, organized the society in 1976. It was incorporated in Maryland in 1978 as a nonprofit religious and educational organization.[1][6] Other sources give other founding years. The Pluralism Project dates the society's founding in Silver Spring to 1979, and a 2013 blog post gives 1978 for Wat Buddhikarama.[7][8] In 2011 the temple planned its 33rd anniversary for August.[9]

The first services were held in a converted single-family house in Oxon Hill, with a shrine in one part of the house and rooms for the monks in another. The community later bought a larger property in New Carrollton, where Khmer language classes were already taught.[6][10] The temple moved to its present site in Silver Spring in 1986, the year given by the society, Capital News Service and VOA Khmer. The William & Mary American Buddhism project gives 1987.[1][2][9][6]

The main shrine hall, or vihara, was finished at the end of 1992 and consecrated in July 1993. The society puts its total cost at about $1.7 million. The former abbot, the Venerable Preah Sumedhavansa Oung Mean Candavanno, led the project and raised almost all of the money.[1][6] At the April 1992 New Year, almost 1,500 people gathered before the new temple opened. The Washington Post gave its construction cost as $1.5 million and wrote that it was believed to be the largest Cambodian Buddhist temple outside Cambodia.[11]

In 2013, 23 dancers from rural Cambodia rededicated the temple as part of a four-city tour of Cambodian temples in Boston, New York, the Washington area and Los Angeles.[12]

Temple and grounds

The temple stands on the stretch of New Hampshire Avenue that locals call the "Highway to Heaven," across the street from a Vietnamese Buddhist temple.[4] It is built in the style of traditional Khmer Buddhist architecture, with tapered, pointed roofs and thin columns topped by statues of holy figures.[2]

The society lists three main buildings. A residential building holds a ceremony hall and the vihara (Buddha Hall), where cultural classes and religious ceremonies take place. A stupa, a dome-shaped shrine, holds a Buddha relic and the ashes of families. The monks' headquarters is where families arrange Buddhist services with volunteers or monks.[1] In November 2020 the William & Mary project recorded a stupa under construction to house Buddha relics and the ashes of monks.[6]

The vihara follows the plan of a Cambodian shrine hall, and its outside carries the Cambodian artwork reserved for a Buddhist temple. Inside, a large gold Buddha image sits on the altar, surrounded by smaller images. Large oil paintings of the life of the Buddha and of scenes from the jataka tales, the stories of his past lives, line the walls. Two crystal chandeliers, ceiling spotlights and a stained-glass window light the hall.[1][6] The temple also keeps an archive of Cambodian Buddhist texts, books and artifacts.[2]

Religious life

The society gives its aims as conserving Cambodian Buddhism and Cambodian culture, providing training and providing human assistance.[1] The number of resident monks has changed over time. The society gives about six or seven, the William & Mary project counted six in 2020, a 2026 directory lists six, and in 2026 the Washingtonian counted seven, including Chhun Sophal.[1][6][4][13]

The monks teach the Dhamma, counsel members and serve as achar, or masters of ceremonies. They lead ceremonies at the temple and in homes, including birthdays, weddings, funerals, memorial services, house blessings and other blessings. The monks do not cook for themselves; workers and volunteers prepare their meals, and volunteers bring food to the temple on a set day each month.[1][6][4][2] Chanting is held every morning and evening, and the temple helps followers keep the five precepts, the basic moral rules of Buddhist life.[6][9]

Organized services are held on all Buddhist holy days, and the temple hosts ancestral rites and weddings. The year includes Khmer New Year (Chol Chnam Thmey), Pchum Ben, the Festival for the Ancestors, and Theravada ceremonies such as the Kathina robe offering, the end of the rainy season retreat and the Last Sermon of the Buddha.[6] The Kathina of 2019 ran from the evening of October 19 to the afternoon of October 20, when the community offered robes to the monks who had stayed in one place for three months.[14]

The Khmer New Year festival in April is the largest gathering of the year. The culture committee puts attendance at over 5,000, and in 2007 the three-day festival drew 1,000 to 2,000 people each day.[5][2] Each morning began with chanting in the prayer room before a row of monks. Guests lined up to serve rice, soups and desserts to each monk, and the monks sprinkled scented holy water to wash away old sins. Free food, dance, folk music and games followed.[2]

Community

The society calls the temple the main contact point for government agencies reaching Cambodian Americans.[1] On Saturdays it has offered citizenship training and English lessons, especially for elderly members.[1][9] The temple has given free food to the hungry and temporary shelter to Cambodians with nowhere to stay.[2][9] In 2011 its head monk named a job board, links to government services, free vaccinations and fundraising for Cambodia among its work.[9] In 2020 the temple also held free health screenings for the elderly and a Miss Cambodian-American pageant in the same halls used for Pchum Ben.[6]

A 15-member board of directors governs the society. Apart from the monks on the board, members are elected every four years, and internal auditors are also elected. Standing committees handle ceremonies, cultural affairs, security and public relations, and construction and maintenance.[1] The society is a tax-exempt nonprofit (EIN 52-1061298), and donations to it are tax deductible.[15][16] For the fiscal year ending December 2016 it reported $76,642 in contributions and $309,660 in program service revenue, and its returns for 2011 to 2016 reported no salaries or wages.[16]

Cultural program (CBSCC)

The Cambodian Buddhist Society Culture Committee (CBSCC) runs the society's Khmer dance, music, language, Dhamma and meditation classes. The Facebook and Instagram accounts in the infobox carry the CBSCC name.[17][18] It grew from a committee that the Venerable Oung Mean Candavanno formed in 1986, which began with Khmer language and Dhamma classes.[19] A 2011 faculty page dates the founding of the Cambodian Buddhist Society Cultural Group to 1989.[20]

The committee added dance and music at Silver Spring in 1990. At the Venerable's request, Dr. Sovan Tun asked Dance Master Peou Khatna, a member of the Royal Ballet of Cambodia and a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts award, to lead the dance program. She brought in dance teachers from the area, including her daughter Sin Ny. Music Master Chum Ngek joined in 1994. The program opened with 24 students, and 25 years later the committee was teaching over 70.[10]

Classes run on Sundays from September to June, between 10:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., and are taught entirely by volunteers.[10][21] Dance students learn Khmer folk dances and classical royal court dances, with their detailed hand gestures and body postures. Warm-up exercises and basic dances teach the meaning of each gesture, and students are grouped by age and ability.[5] Music students play traditional pieces on the skor (barrel drum), roneat (xylophone), gongs and cymbals.[22] Language classes teach Khmer speaking, reading and writing at graded levels, each followed by a session on customs and manners.[23] Dhamma classes teach Buddhist teaching and give children a moral compass of respect and compassion.[24]

Students perform in the committee's cultural show, the highlight of the New Year festival.[10] They also perform at outside events. On May 17, 2026, students of the society's school performed traditional dance and music at a Khmer New Year program at Montgomery County's Wheaton Library.[25] The committee receives an operating grant from the Maryland State Arts Council and support from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the society was a partner on a 2006 Creative Communities Fund Commissioning Circle Grant.[26][20]

Classes, 2026 to 2027

Registration for the 2026 to 2027 school year runs through the committee's online registration form, which lists these Sunday class times:[21]

  • Khmer dance, female and male groups: 10:15 a.m. to 2 p.m.
  • Khmer music: 10:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
  • Dhamma: 1:30 p.m. to 2 p.m.
  • Khmer language: 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Orientation and registration are on September 27, 2026, and the last day to register is October 18, 2026. Classes close for Pchum Ben on October 11 and for Kathin on November 1, 2026. Sompeah Kru, the ceremony honoring teachers, falls on March 28, 2027, followed by the Khmer New Year procession on April 17 and the CBSCC cultural performance on April 18, 2027. Families take turns providing Sunday lunch, and student volunteers can earn Student Service Learning (SSL) hours.[21]

Monks and leaders

Roles are given with the year of the source where they may have changed.

  • Venerable Preah Sumedhavansa Oung Mean Candavanno (also written Sumedhavong), founder and former abbot[1][19][6]
  • Venerable Chan Horn, head of the temple since 1997 (2011)[9]
  • Chhun Sophal, resident monk (2026)[4]
  • Dr. Sovan Tun, president of the society, managing the temple's religious and social operations and teaching Buddhism and chanting in its Sunday school (2007, 2011)[2][20]
  • Dance Master Peou Khatna, first leader of the dance program, and her daughter Sin Ny[10]
  • Music Master Chum Ngek, music director and teacher from 1994[10][27][20]
  • CBSCC leadership: Narin Jameson (chairperson), Raci Say and Natalie Chhuan (vice chairpersons; Chhuan is also language director and music teacher), Masady Mani (art director), Vathana Say (assistant art director)[27]

Cultural group faculty (2011):[20]

  • Masady Mani, co-art director since 1992, choreographer of Mae Om Bao Kom San Soun, Dom Naur Khmer and Tang You
  • Ny Jewell, co-art director, daughter of Peou Khatna, who teaches in Silver Spring on Sundays and choreographed Yerng Knom Koma (We the Children)
  • Puthyrith Sek, dance teacher since 1989, male and monkey roles
  • Khantya Nou, dance teacher since 1997, demon roles
  • Sochietah Ung, teacher since 1999, demon roles and folk dance
  • Viphas Heng, teacher since 1999, monkey roles
  • Vathana Say, apprentice dance teacher

Visiting

Tourists of many nationalities come from Washington, D.C., to see the shrine hall, and some visitors have stayed at the temple.[6][2] In summer, groups of American students often visit to learn about Buddhism and Khmer culture, and the temple holds the main Buddhist scriptures in English translation.[9]

Associations

Cambodian Buddhist Society Silver Spring (associated organization).[28] Organization details: Cambodian Buddhist Society Silver Spring.
The society’s official history identifies Vatt Buddhikarama as its headquarters temple. Corporate identity and governance are recorded on the separate society page.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 Cambodian Buddhist Society, About Us
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 Capital News Service, Food, New Clothes Ring in Cambodian Lunar New Year (2007)
  3. ↑ YouTube, Cambodian Buddhist Temple (វត្តពុទ្ធិការាម) Silver Spring (2021)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Washingtonian, Inside the Many Faiths of Maryland's Highway to Heaven (2026)
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Cambodian Buddhist Society Culture Committee, Dance Classes
  6. ↑ 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 6.12 William & Mary, Buddhism in America: The Cambodian Buddhist Society, Inc. (2020)
  7. ↑ The Pluralism Project, Buddhism
  8. ↑ Angry Asian Buddhist, Where is the First Khmer American Temple? (2013)
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 VOA Khmer, Monk Sees US Pagoda as Central to Cambodian Community (2011)
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 Cambodian Buddhist Society Culture Committee, Cultural Programs
  11. ↑ The Washington Post, Cambodians Mark New Year With New Temple (1992)
  12. ↑ Religion News Service, Cambodian dancers rededicate Buddhist temples across U.S. (2013)
  13. ↑ Cambodian Buddhist Temples in the USA directory, B.E. 2570 (2026)
  14. ↑ InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington, Kathina at the Cambodian Buddhist Temple (2019)
  15. ↑ Cause IQ, Cambodian Buddhist Society
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, Cambodian Buddhist Society
  17. ↑ Cambodian Buddhist Society Culture Committee, Mission
  18. ↑ Points of Light, Cambodian Buddhist Society Cultural Committee
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Cambodian Buddhist Society Culture Committee, About Us
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 Cambodian Buddhist Society Cultural Group, faculty (2011)
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Cambodian Buddhist Society Culture Committee, 2026-2027 class registration form
  22. ↑ Cambodian Buddhist Society Culture Committee, Music Classes
  23. ↑ Cambodian Buddhist Society Culture Committee, Language Classes
  24. ↑ Cambodian Buddhist Society Culture Committee, Dhamma Classes
  25. ↑ Montgomery County Public Libraries, Celebrate the Cambodian New Year (2026)
  26. ↑ Cambodian Buddhist Society Culture Committee, home page
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Cambodian Buddhist Society Culture Committee, Chair and Directors
  28. ↑ About Us

Sources

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This page was last edited on 26 September 2026, at 23:15.