Small sitting Buddha statue, courtesy Jeewana Dansawan, photograph Ed Giles.
The main Buddha statue at Wat Buddharangsee Annandale, photograph Michaela Pollock.
Buddhism & Wat Buddharangsee
The wat (temple) is central to Thai society. In Buddhist belief one must tum bun (make merit) by offering food and basic items to monks. This is traditionally done every morning when monks walk the streets with alms bowls collecting their day's food.
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Stone wall carving at Wat Buddharangsee Annandale, photograph Michaela Pollock.
This essential element of Thai life does not exist in a non-Buddhist society. Instead Thai people must go to the temple to tum bun. In Sydney lay people line the driveway of the temple compound at Annandale to recreate the daily ritual of monks receiving food.
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Praying at Wat Buddharangsee, photograph Ed Giles.
The first Thai temple in Australia, Wat Buddharangsee, was opened by the Crown Prince of Thailand in 1975 on Vesak Day, a Buddhist holy day. The small temple catered to the needs of the Australian Thai Buddhist community as well as Sydney's growing Laotian, Cambodian and Vietnamese communities.
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Wat Buddharangsee Annandale, photograph Michaela Pollock.
However the temple was soon overcrowded. In 1995, five monks moved from the temple at Stanmore to a large federation style house with a large shed that was converted into the sala (main temple) in Annandale. Since then it has been the primary temple for Thai Buddhists in Sydney. Other Thai temples in NSW include Wat Pah Buddharangsee (Buddharangsee Forest Monastery) at Leumeah, opened in 1988, and Sunnataram Monastery, at Bundanoon, opened in 1989.
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A monk at Wat Buddharangsee Annandale, photograph Michaela Pollock.
The wat is a space in which traditional seniority systems are observed. In Thai culture deference is shown to people of seniority, with monks most revered. Respect for seniority is expressed through the wai, where two palms are brought together in a prayer-like gesture.