Wat

Wat Thormikaram Of Rhode Island

វត្តធម្មិការាម


Wat Thormikaram Of Rhode Island (វត្តធម្មិការាម) is a Khmer Theravada Buddhist temple on Hanover Street in Providence, Rhode Island.[1][2] The Venerable Maha Ghosananda and his supporters founded it in his home on Hanover Street, and he lived at the temple and served its community through the 1980s and early 1990s.[3][4][5] The Providence Journal called it the first Cambodian Buddhist temple in the United States.[3][6]

History

The community's origins date to the late 1970s. Cambodians who had fled the Khmer Rouge reached refugee centers in Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia, and many were later resettled in countries such as Australia, Canada, France and the United States. A large number came to Providence.[1] The Providence Journal put the number of people who died under the Khmer Rouge at an estimated 2 million. All but about 6,000 of Cambodia's 80,000 monks were killed, and most of the country's temples were destroyed or desecrated.[3]

Maha Ghosananda arrived in Providence in 1980 or 1981, the first of thousands of Cambodian refugees resettled in Rhode Island. He and his followers first met in the homes of Cambodian families.[3][1] In 1981 the group received nonprofit status as the New England Buddhist Center, and it later took the name Khmer Buddhist Society of New England. The Providence Journal gives the name as the Khmer Buddhist Society of Rhode Island.[1][3] The first temple was set up in Ghosananda's home, a three-decker house at 178 Hanover Street. It became a spiritual and community center for thousands of Cambodian refugees in Rhode Island and elsewhere in the country.[3] During the years Ghosananda lived there, the community built its first temple building.[1]

Rhode Island became a base for founding temples in other Cambodian refugee communities. A second office in Thailand arranged for monks to come to the United States, and between 1983 and 1986 more than 80 monks came to Providence.[7]

The first temple burned down. The Pluralism Project dates the fire to March 1996, and The Providence Journal to 1997.[1][3] The community then bought a house across the street for use as a monastery and moved its communal hall into a converted garage next door. It later built another structure that serves as its main temple.[1][3] Turning private houses into public religious spaces meant meeting the City of Providence's building codes. The work included an accessibility ramp and a sprinkler system in the monastery and cost tens of thousands of dollars.[1]

In 2002 the temple worked with Providence College on a program called "The Spirit of Cambodia," with art exhibitions, music and dance performances, lectures and films.[1] By 2003 the community had a model, plans and an architect for a larger temple.[1]

Ground was broken in the summer of 2008 for a new worship hall named for Preah Maha Ghosananda, on the original Hanover Street site. The hall had been planned as a surprise gift to Ghosananda while he was alive, and the project was delayed for years. By March 2009 the frame was up and interior work was going on step by step. Project manager John Chea, vice president of the Cambodian Society of Rhode Island, said that more than $150,000 had been raised and about $200,000 was still needed. Suarez & Suarez Design Group of Providence were the architects, and the Hanover Group was the main contractor.[3]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, donations to the temple fell by as much as half. Its secretary, Samnang Becker, said people were not comfortable filling the temple as they had before.[8] In 2023 the Rhode Island House of Representatives recognized the temple for its celebration of Khmer New Year 2023.[9]

Maha Ghosananda

Maha Ghosananda was a disciple of Samdech Sangha Raja Chuon Noth, the former head of the Cambodian Buddhist Sangha, the community of monks.[7] He was on a forest retreat in Thailand during the first years of the Khmer Rouge. In 1978 he left to help survivors reaching the refugee camps along the Thai border, and he set up temples in the camps.[3][7] In 1981 he went to the United States to head the Cambodian Buddhist community in Rhode Island.[7]

He lived at the Hanover Street temple and served the community from the 1980s until 1994 or 1995. In sandals and saffron robes, he led children on meditation walks around the temple.[1][4][3] From the 1990s he divided his time between Providence and Cambodian communities in Massachusetts and Philadelphia. In 1991 he led a 16-day pilgrimage across Cambodia, the first of the peace marches that became known as the Dhammayietra Walks for Peace and Reconciliation.[3][4] He died in Massachusetts in 2007 at the age of 85. The Providence Journal counted four nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize, and the Pluralism Project three.[3][1]

Sangha

Ros Mey, a former Cambodian military officer, was ordained as a monk at Wat Thormikaram in 1993 at the age of 62. In 1998 he succeeded Maha Ghosananda as Chov Atika, or head monk, and president of the temple.[6] In 2009 he was the senior monk of the Cambodian community.[3] He died at the temple on December 12, 2010, at the age of 85.[6]

A 2026 directory of Khmer temples in the United States lists eight monks at Wat Thormikaram.[10]

Temple and grounds

The temple and monastery stand at 177 to 179 Hanover Street.[11][10][12] A small shrine room on the first floor of the monastery is used every day, and the wider community gathers in the main temple on weekends and holidays. Both buildings hold elaborate shrines to the Buddha.[1]

The main temple's gateway carries small figures of the twelve animals of the calendar cycle. A miniature temple over the gateway represents Angkor Wat, and the main temple also holds a model of it.[1][3]

The worship hall begun in 2008 follows traditional Cambodian design, with steep tiered roofs, a door facing east toward the sunrise, and serpents rising from each corner of the roof. Its plans called for a traditional altar and Buddha images of bronze and granite about 1.8 meters (6 feet) tall. A life-like statue of Ghosananda was to stand in the hall; in 2009 it sat in the monks' residence across the street, where daily prayers were held.[3]

Religious life

The temple follows Theravada Buddhism. Services consist largely of chanting, honoring the Buddha and making offerings.[1] As of 2003, worship with chanting and offerings was held on Saturday and Sunday mornings at 9 a.m. The monastery shrine room was open on weekdays, and monks visited members' homes. Khmer New Year was celebrated on April 13 or 14, and Ancestors' Commemoration Day each September. The temple also held meditation groups, language and citizenship classes, and other holidays and feasts through the year.[1]

The temple gives its purposes as keeping a Buddhist center for the Cambodian people of Rhode Island, offering traditional religious and cultural services to people of all backgrounds who wish to learn about and practice Cambodian culture and Buddhism, and helping younger Cambodians value their ancestral traditions, culture and heritage.[1]

Community

Rhode Island's Cambodian population numbered about 7,000 in 1987 and grew to between 10,000 and 13,000 by 2003, with an estimated 80 percent affiliated with this temple. Many members live in Providence, and others in suburbs such as Cranston, Warwick and Woonsocket.[1] The temple's work reaches beyond religious practice to the wider needs of a refugee community, and it takes part in the religious and cultural life of the city and state.[1] The secular Cambodian Society of Rhode Island bought a neighboring house with plans for a Cambodian cultural center and museum.[1]

The organization files annual federal returns as a tax-exempt nonprofit. For the fiscal year ending December 2024 it reported $152,927 in contributions and $227,535 in total assets.[5]

Officers (2024)

The organization's 2024 federal return lists these officers and committee members.[5]

  • Venerable Sum Panha, president
  • So Nuon and Saroeun Ry, vice presidents
  • Samnang Keo, secretary
  • Venerable Ou Keoratna and Sarorn Sey, assistant secretaries
  • Somkhur S Phech, treasurer
  • Venerable Bunly Nouv and Khim Heng, assistant treasurers
  • Randy Chik, publicity chair
  • Kimberly Yem, literary culture chair
  • Pao Thaing, membership chair
  • Sokhoun Khea, finance committee
  • Ra Pek, advisory planning committee
  • Sophon Im, events committee

Associations

Wat Thormikaram Of Rhode Island Inc (associated organization).[13]
Legal name: Wat Thormikaram of Rhode Island Inc.
Registration identifiers: EIN (United States): 06-1486005.
The nonprofit identity is distinguished from the physical Wat. The Pluralism Project documents the community's earlier organizational names, New England Buddhist Center and Khmer Buddhist Society of New England.[1]

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 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 Pluralism Project archive, Wat Thormikaram of Rhode Island (2003)
  2. ↑ Wat Khemararatanaram, Rhode Island temples
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 Karen Lee Ziner, A tribute to Ghosananda, The Providence Journal, March 15, 2009 (via Buddhist Channel)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 PVD Eye, Letters to the Editor (August 5, 2026)
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, Wat Thormikaram of Rhode Island Inc
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Wikipedia, Ros Mey
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Encyclopedia.com, Theravada Buddhism
  8. ↑ Buddhistdoor Global, Cambodian Buddhists in Rhode Island Struggle to Cope with COVID-19 (2021)
  9. ↑ Rhode Island House of Representatives, H 6304 (2023)
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Wat Ratanarangsey blog, Cambodian Buddhist Temples in the USA directory (2026)
  11. ↑ Wat Khemararatanaram, Khmer temples in the USA
  12. ↑ BuddhaNet World Buddhist Directory, Rhode Island
  13. ↑ ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, Wat Thormikaram of Rhode Island Inc

Sources

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