Viên Giác Pagoda
The Viên Giác (German: Perfect Enlightenment ) pagoda and the associated monastery in the Hanover district of Mittelfeld is a religious center for Vietnamese Buddhists , one of eight Vietnamese-Buddhist pagodas in Germany and one of the largest pagodas in Europe. It is supported by the non-profit association "Congregation of the Vietnamese Buddhist Church (CVBK), Department in Germany".
The building
The building at Karlsruher Strasse 6 was built between 1987 and 1993 based on a design by the architect Tran Phong Luu ; the construction costs amounted to around 9 million DM . The tower of the pagoda is 24 m high and has around 10,000 small Buddha images from a fundraising campaign. The west wing of the complex is 48 m long, 6 m wide and four stories high; the east wing is 38 m long and 15 m wide. The facility includes around 3000 m² of building space (main building 815 m²; auxiliary building 666 m², tower 25 m²) as well as 1000 m² outside area with two small ponds.
The interior includes a prayer hall (450 m²) with barrier-free access and space for around 700 visitors, a memorial room with over 1,600 photos of deceased people, a library (100 m²) with around 6,000 books and magazines, and living rooms for the monks. The then Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, Ernst Albrecht, supported the construction of the pagodas, so that his name was poured into the big bell from Taiwan as a thank you .
The community
Teaching
The monastery represents the school of the Pure Land Sukhavati of the Buddha Amitabha , which originated in China , which nevertheless goes back to the cult of Amitabha Buddhism (Vietnamese: Tịnh độ tông) which originated in India . Its representatives do not strive for direct entry into Nirvana , but for rebirth in the “Pure Land” Sukhavati.
history
The Vietnamese abbot Thích Như Điển (* 1949) met Vietnamese Buddhists in Hanover in 1978, who used an apartment on Kestnerstrasse as a meeting room. Two years later, rooms were rented in Eichelkampstrasse, and as early as 1984 the plan was made to build a separate building, as the number of visitors was steadily increasing. The foundation stone was laid during the 1987 Vesakh festival, the topping-out ceremony was celebrated in 1990 and the pagoda was inaugurated at the 1991 Vesakh festival, although not everything was finished. 7,000 guests and more than 30 ordained people celebrated one week. The building was not completed until two years later. In 1995 the Dalai Lama visited the monastery and gave a discourse there. Events were held in the pagoda as part of the Expo 2000 at the nearby exhibition center .
activities
Two recitations take place daily: the morning recitation from 5:45 a.m. to 7:10 a.m. and the evening recitation from 4:55 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. There are also numerous other regular and irregular events. The three festivals Tết (New Year), Vesakh (Buddha's birthday) and Ullambana (commemoration of parents and ancestors) are highlights of the year.
Fonts
- Loc Ho: Vietnamese Buddhism in Germany: Presentation of history and institutionalization . Vietnamese-Buddhist Socio-Cultural Center, Hanover 1999
- Thích Như-Điển: Monastery Pagoda Vien Giac . Vietnamese-Buddhist socio-cultural center in the Federal Republic of Germany. Hanover 1995
- Viên-giác: Tạp chí của kiều bào và Phật tử Việt Nam tị nạn tại Cộng hòa Liên bang Đức; Journal of the Vietnamese and Buddhist Vietnam refugees in the Federal Republic of Germany . Frequency of publication: six times a year, ZDB ID 230595-1
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Loc Ho: Vietnamese Buddhism in Germany: Presentation of History and Institutionalization . Hanover 1999. p. 150.
Coordinates: 52 ° 19 ′ 41 ″ N , 9 ° 47 ′ 25 ″ E