Chua Bo De


Chua Bo De is a Vietnamese Buddhist Temple in New Orleans, United States.

History

The Chua Bo De Buddhist Temple was built in 1983. The monk that built the temple is no longer there. When he left, he gave the temple to a monk named Thich Thong Duc. In 2012, Monk Thich Thong Duc left the temple in order to take charge of his temple in Houston. At the moment there is no official head monk, there is only two female monks that live on the temple's ground and a male monk that comes every few weeks. The temple name "Bồ Đề" is a Vietnamese transcription of the Bodhi Tree's name, the tree that Buddha sat under when he reached enlightenment.

Architecture and activities

The Chua Bo De temple is located on the Westbank in the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans near English Turn. The temple reflects the features and decorations of traditional Vietnamese architecture. The area surrounding the temple is mostly undeveloped, but trimmed carefully with many benches. The main temple is a square building the size of a four-bedroom house. There are two guardian lions at the entrance to the temple.
The interior part of the temple consists of a large prayer room, a large room for classes and social events, a kitchen, and two small praying rooms for worship of ancestors and Quan Công. The temple has two attached living quarters for the resident monks.
The temple serves as a community center for the local Vietnamese community and a few non-Vietnamese. It holds regular services on Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 11:00 a.m and other special Buddhist ceremonies such as Vesak. The temple also provides Vietnamese language and the Buddhist teaching classes for children on every Sunday.