Wat
Wat Jotanaram
Wat Jotanaram (វត្តជោតនារាម) is a Khmer Buddhist temple in a house on Marion Avenue in the Bronx, New York City.[1][2] It is also known as the Khmer Buddhist Society, and its name is translated as "beautiful, peaceful, delighted, and shining place."[3]
History
Cambodians who had settled in the Bronx after escaping the Khmer Rouge opened the temple in 1985. The first wave of Cambodian immigrants to reach New York bought the building that year.[1][3] Photographs of monks line the temple walls. Many of them, the head monk says, died in the genocide.[4]
In 2001 the temple recruited Sophouns Kandaal Pheach from Cambodia as its head monk, and he came to New York City that year.[3][4] His monastic name is Bhikkhu Viriyadhammo Pheach Sophoun, and he is also known as Pheach Kandaal.[5] In 2014 he led prayers with three other monks, two of whom lived with him at the temple. In 2015 two monks lived there.[3][1]
In 2011 the temple held prayers and raised funds for Japan after the earthquake and tsunami, and it raised money to build on its backyard. On June 1, 2015, temple members visited a house in the back as a possible site for the temple, and a silver-flower fundraiser followed on August 28 and 29, 2015.[5] In August 2019 devotees held a fundraising ceremony to repair the roof and walls, with a blessing on the evening of August 24 and a dedication on the morning of August 25.[6]
Architecture
The temple occupies a two-story house near Fordham University that serves as temple, community hall and home for the monks.[3][4] High white gates and Cambodian flags mark it from the street. The main floor holds a kitchen, a dining area and a shrine with golden Buddha images and brightly colored devotional objects, where people pray with candles and incense.[3][4][7] Group meditation takes place on the second floor.[3]
Religious life
Cambodians come to the temple to study Buddhism, pray and meditate, and to feel at home. Many ceremonies are held in Khmer, and Buddhists from other countries are welcome.[1] Funerals, ordinations and blessings are held there. Members share meals, and the temple offers lessons in reading and writing Khmer and traditional Cambodian health care such as the coin-rubbing treatment kos kyhol.[3]
The temple marks the Buddhist year with Khmer New Year, Pchum Ben, the Kathina robe offering and other ceremonies. Dates on record include Khmer New Year on April 13, 2015; Pchum Ben from September 14 to 29, 2019; and Kathina on October 19 and 20, 2019. Kathina Dana ceremonies were also held in 2011, 2012 and on October 31, 2015.[5][6]
Community
In 2015 the temple served about 300 families, mostly from the Bronx, New Jersey, Connecticut and Philadelphia. Most of its few hundred followers are survivors of the Khmer Rouge years who fled to the United States.[1][7] Most members were seniors, and few younger followers were in line to succeed them.[1] "I am worried every day my temple will disappear because young people are not interested in Buddhism," Pheach said in 2014.[3]
Temple committee (2015)
The temple's contact page lists these officers.[5]
- Oum Okkasen, clergyman
- Duong Chamroeun, president
- Samrith Chot, vice president
- Ouk Khann, secretary general
Lang Leang is a former president of the Khmer Buddhist Society.[3]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Spectrum News NY1, Monks of the City: Bronx Monks Aim to Pass on Ancient Tradition (2015)
- ↑ Watkhmers.org, Khmer pagodas in New York (2024)
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 Sleepless in Singapore, Buddhism in the Bronx: Wat Jotanaram (2014)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Minority Rights Group, A Cambodian Monk on Identity in New York City
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Wat Jotanaram, Contact
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Wat Jotanaram, official website
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 VICE, Talking to Cambodians in the Bronx About the Khmer Rouge Genocide Tribunal (2015)