Wat
Chùa Cao Dân
Chùa Cao Dân (Chùa Saraymel Chey) is a Khmer Theravada Buddhist Wat on the Bạch Ngưu river in Tân Lộc commune, Cà Mau province, Vietnam, and a national relic.[1][2]
History
The Wat was built in 1922 on 4 ha (10 acres) given by Diệp Thị Lài, where the Đường Cày creek meets the river; local people called it the White Buffalo Wat (Chùa Trâu Trắng, or Bạch Ngưu).[1] It moved to its present site beside National Route 63, about 16 km (10 mi) north of the center of Cà Mau, in 1958.[2][1]
During the wars against France and the United States the Wat was a secret base of the resistance. In 1953 it hosted a three-month political course for Khmer cadres of Bạc Liêu and Cà Mau, among them many monks and achar (lay ritual leaders). In 1960 more than 400 monks met there for the congress of the Patriotic Monks' Solidarity Association of the southwestern region.[2] Hòa thượng (Most Venerable) Hữu Nhem, a former abbot who trained as a monk there, became a vice chair of the National Liberation Front and was killed in a bombing raid in 1966.[2][1] The Wat was bombed and burned several times, and bomb craters still mark the grounds. It was rebuilt in 1998.[1]
On June 11, 2007, the Cà Mau provincial people's committee recognized the Wat as a provincial historical and cultural relic, and on December 29, 2017, the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism ranked it as a national relic.[1][2]
Architecture
The main hall holds one large altar, dedicated to the Buddha alone. Facing it stands the stupa of Hữu Nhem, built in 2003 on a base of 12 m2 (130 sq ft).[1][2] Its height is given as 17 m (56 ft)[1] or 12 m (39 ft).[2]
Religious life
Each year the Wat holds Khmer New Year (Chol Chnam Thmey) from April 14 to 16, with the procession of the Maha Sangkran calendar, the building of sand mountains and the bathing of Buddha images; Sen Dolta, the three-day festival for ancestors; and Ok Om Bok, the moon festival. Its monks and achar teach Khmer script to local children.[2]
On April 11, 2026, provincial leaders brought Khmer New Year gifts to the monks and the Wat committee.[3] In August 2026, monks, lay followers and neighbors cleaned the main hall and the grounds and restored Hữu Nhem's stupa for the 60th anniversary of his death, after the preaching hall, dining hall and kitchen had been repaired under a national program for ethnic minority areas.[4]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Cổng thông tin điện tử tỉnh Cà Mau, Chùa Cao Dân (Seraymel Chey) (July 14, 2025)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Báo Cà Mau, Chùa Cao Dân: Di sản văn hoá và lịch sử (October 31, 2025)
- ↑ Báo Cà Mau, Ấm áp Tết Chôl Chnăm Thmây nơi phum sóc Cà Mau (April 11, 2026)
- ↑ Dân tộc và Phát triển, "Ngọn lửa" nơi mái chùa Cao Dân (August 7, 2026)