Wat
Wat Khemara Rangsey
Wat Khemara Rangsey (វត្តខេមររង្សី) is a Theravada Khmer Buddhist temple on Cunningham Avenue in East San Jose, California.[1][2] In 2014 it was one of three Khmer temples in San Jose.[3]
History
The temple is housed in a small converted house.[3] On February 26, 2011, about 50 members of the Silicon Valley Cambodian community gathered there to hear about the coming international trial of four senior Khmer Rouge leaders.[2] In 2026 a directory of Cambodian temples in the United States listed three monks at the temple.[1]
Religious life
Like other Bay Area wats, the temple is a cultural center for Khmers from Cambodia and for Cambodian Americans. Its monks speak Khmer and live at the temple. They give dharma lectures, usually in Khmer, teach meditation and lead blessing ceremonies called boun. The temple also keeps Khmer holidays such as Chaul Chnam, the Cambodian New Year, and Pchum Ben.[4]
At the Khmer New Year celebration in 2014, a crowd of a couple hundred people lined up outside to offer small scoops of rice to the monks in their saffron robes. Women cooked fried rice, curry with bamboo shoots and spring rolls, and the monks blessed the food inside the wat before the feast began.[3] "Celebrating our new year is a way to preserve our culture and to teach the younger generation about our identity," temple member Moni Mau said in 2023.[5]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Wat Ratanarangsey blog, 2026 Directory of Wat Khmer or Cambodian Buddhist Temples in the USA
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Mercury News, Khmer Rouge victims in U.S. to get their say (2011)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Faine Greenwood, Khmer New Year in America (2014)
- ↑ Artogether, Cambodian Voices in the Bay: Khmer Cultural Heritage
- ↑ The Mercury News, South Bay Cambodian community set to celebrate New Year (2023)