Wat

Wat Iowaram

វត្តអាយអូវ៉ារាម


Wat Iowaram (វត្តអាយអូវ៉ារាម) is a Theravada Khmer Buddhist temple on 19th Street in Des Moines, Iowa.[1][2] Drake University's Comparison Project records it as the first Theravada Buddhist temple in the state.[1] It is run by the Cambodian Buddhist Society, Inc. (ពុទ្ធិកសមាគមខ្មែរ-វត្តអាយអូវ៉ារាម), whose listed address is 1332 18th Street, while the temple building stands at 1301 19th Street.[3][2][1]

Names

Wat Iowaram is also written Watt Iowaram and is known in English as the Cambodian Buddhist Society.[4][1][5] Some directories have listed it as Wat Khmer Iowa (វត្តខ្មែរអាយយ៉ូវ៉ា) at 1901 7th Street, with (515) 247-0189, the same telephone number that a 2014 directory gives for the temple at 1301 19th Street.[6][7][8][9] A 2026 directory of Khmer temples lists the society at 1332 18th Street with the number (515) 603-2069.[2]

History

The community's first members were refugees who came to Iowa from Cambodia to survive, and they began with very little.[1] Wat Iowaram was the original name of the Angkor Wat Friendship Association. Drake's Comparison Project dates the association's incorporation to the 1970s. The Iowa Asian Alliance dates its founding in Des Moines to 1988, when a single monk held religious and cultural ceremonies in a rented house that served as the temple.[1][10] Monks were later brought over from Cambodia. The community then bought its building at the present location and titled it the Cambodian Buddhist Society.[1]

The Angkor Wat Friendship Association, Inc. has been tax-exempt since September 2001, at 1301 19th Street. The Cambodian Buddhist Society, Inc. (EIN 26-4801767) was founded in 2010 and has been tax-exempt as a 501(c)(3) organization since October 2010, at 1332 18th Street.[11][12][13]

The temple property sits at the northeast corner where 19th Street, Keosauqua Way and Carpenter Avenue meet. It is a building of about 465 square meters (5,008 square feet) on a site of about 0.3 hectares (0.73 acres) made up of two parcels, used as a place of worship with a parking area. In 2023 the Cambodian Buddhist Society, Inc., as owner and represented by officer Noy Noeuy, asked the city to rezone the property so the building could be reused as a small grocery store. The Plan and Zoning Commission recommended denial on May 4, 2023, and the City Council denied the rezoning on June 12, 2023.[14][15]

Religious life

The temple follows the Theravada tradition. The Venerable Eang Muon Op is head monk, and a 2026 directory of Khmer temples in the United States lists one monk.[1][2] Because the temple building has been in disrepair, the community holds Tak Bat, the monthly offering of food to the monk, at his home.[1]

The temple holds Pchum Ben, the Khmer festival honoring ancestors. Its program for B.E. 2570 (2026) was announced in September 2026.[3] In May 2025, community leaders and the monk were planning a 100-day ceremony at the temple, held to honor the safe passage of a person's spirit into the next life.[4]

Community

The Iowa Cambodian Buddhist Society shares space with the temple on 19th Street. In 2025 Sanaye Chung stepped down as its president and handed leadership to Emily Frimml, who is also president of the Angkor Wat Friendship Association. Sanaye Chung estimates that 250 Cambodian families and 2,000 Cambodians live in the Des Moines area.[4][10]

The Angkor Wat Friendship Association, which grew out of the temple, organizes community events such as the Khmer New Year.[1][10]

Visiting

Visitors remove their shoes, dress modestly, and do not point their outstretched legs or the soles of their feet at sacred objects or people.[1]

Associations

Angkor Wat Friendship Association (associated organization).[16] Organization details: Angkor Wat Friendship Inc..
The association has its own cultural-preservation and community-assistance remit. It is not treated as legally identical to Cambodian Buddhist Society, Inc.

Cambodian Buddhist Society, Inc. (associated organization).[17]
Legal name: Cambodian Buddhist Society, Inc..
Registration identifiers: EIN (United States): 26-4801767.
Organization mailing address, not the Wat's visiting address: 1332 18th Street, Des Moines, IA 50314.
The organization-listed address is kept separate from the 19th Street temple building. Drake’s account describes monthly Tak Bat at a monk’s home while the temple is in disrepair; neither location is promised as an unrestricted visitor site.

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 Drake University Comparison Project, Cambodian Buddhist Society
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Bhikkhu Pat Sophal, Cambodian Buddhist Temples in the USA, B.E. 2570 (2026)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cambodian Buddhist Society, Inc. (ពុទ្ធិកសមាគមខ្មែរ-វត្តអាយអូវ៉ារាម), Facebook page
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Carl Voss, Let's catch up (May 2025)
  5. ↑ Cause IQ, Cambodian Buddhist Society / Wat Iowaram
  6. ↑ Wat Khemara Ratanaram, directory of Khmer temples in Iowa
  7. ↑ National Cambodian American Organization, Cambodian National Directory (2014)
  8. ↑ Temple News, 2558 Khmer Buddhist Temples Directory (2014)
  9. ↑ Yellow Pages, Buddhist places of worship near Altoona, Iowa
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Iowa Asian Alliance, Cambodian community
  11. ↑ Tax Exempt World, nonprofits in Des Moines 50314
  12. ↑ ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, Cambodian Buddhist Society Inc
  13. ↑ Cause IQ, Des Moines Buddhist organizations
  14. ↑ City of Des Moines, Plan and Zoning Commission minutes (May 4, 2023)
  15. ↑ City of Des Moines, City Council meeting summary (June 12, 2023)
  16. ↑ Iowa Asian Alliance, Cambodian
  17. ↑ Cambodian Buddhist Society

Sources

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