Thai Temples in the United States Part 3 By Arjanyai At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

Presently, according to the notification the Temple has made to the city government, Wat Thai of Los Angeles usually holds twelve festivals and celebrations every year, viz.,

1) New Year Festival on the first day of January;
2) Magha Puja Day on the full moon day of the third lunar month (usually in the middle of February) in commemoration of the Great Assembly of Disciples;
3) Wan Waikhru or Teacher-Respecting Day on any Thursday in March;
4) Songkran or Water Festival on April 13;
5) Visakha Puja Day on the full moon day of the sixth lunar month (usually in the middle or towards the end of May) in commemoration of the Birth, the Enlightenment and the Passing away of the Buddha;
6) Lawthien or Candle-Casting Ceremony on any day of June some weeks before the beginning of the Vassa residence;
7) Asalฺha Puja Day on the full moon day of the eighth lunar month (usually in the middle or towards the end of July) in Commemoration of the Buddha’s First Sermon;
8) H.M. the Queen’s Birthday on August 12;
9) Sarada Ceremony on the new moon day of the tenth lunar month (usually in September) to transfer merit to the departed;
10) Ok Pansa or the end of Vassa residence (period of retreat during the rains or the Buddhist Lent) on the full moon day of the eleventh month (usually in the middle or towards the end of October);
11) Tot Kathin or the Post-Lenten Robe-Offering Ceremony on any day during one month following Ok Pansa to present robes to the monks who have completed the Vassa residence;
12) H.M. the King’s Birthday on December 5.

Not counting the Thai people and the Americans of the Thai origin who are naturally of the greatest number, refugees from Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, especially the Laotians, are the most numerous
of all the participants in the religious activities of Wat Thai.

To propagate the teachings of the Buddha, Buddhist beliefs and practices, and Thai culture and to publicize its activities, the Temple publishes “Duang Pratip”, a monthly magazine which is bilingual, though its articles in English are fewer than those in Thai. To realize Buddhist educational objectives, it runs Buddhist Sunday School classes for children who learn Thai language, Thai culture and Buddhist morality and offers regular meditation training to Thais, Americans and people of other nationalities who are interested. A vocational school for adults has also been opened to teach sewing, Thai cooking and the art of preparing decorative food by fruit and vegetable carving. It is notable that, as a service to the local community, the temple grounds are made use of, in the same way as in Thailand, as the location where polling booths are set up for political elections.

It is a great pleasure to the Thais that Her Majesty the Queen of Thailand has several times graced the Thai community of Southern California with her royal visits to Wat Thai of Los Angeles. With Her Majesty’s four donations to the Temple, amounting to $5,000, a fund has been established to help Wat Thai of Los Angeles in the realization of its beneficial objectives.

In the latest development, Wat Thai of Los Angeles in cooperation with the Faculty of Education of Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok has developed the Research Project for Developing Curriculum and Teaching in “Thai Language and Culture”. Under this project, a number of professors and lecturers from the Faculty of Education of Chulalongkorn University will come to stay for some months in Los Angeles to conduct the summer educational activities at Wat Thai, teaching Thai language and culture to a class of 30-40 young Thai students who live in the United States. The teaching, which is planned to be experimental in this first year of the Project, will last from July through September 2527/1984.

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