Wat
Wat Aranhrangsey
វត្តអរញ្ញរង្សី
Wat Aranhrangsey is a Cambodian Theravada Buddhist temple in Rukuhia, near Hamilton, New Zealand.[1] It is also listed as Wat Aranh Rangsy Khmer Buddhist Temple.[1]
History
In mid-2002 the Waikato Khmer Association and Khmer Buddhists in the Waikato agreed that they needed a Wat of their own in Hamilton, so that they would no longer have to travel to Auckland for religious events. In April 2003 the association's Buddhist committee bought a property at 250 Collin Road, Melville, for the Wat. The head monk in Wellington endorsed it and sent a monk from Auckland to serve there.[2]
Neighbors in Melville did not support the association's application for resource consent, so the association moved the Wat to Ohaupo. There it bought an existing community hall, which needed no resource consent but still had to be renovated to meet building rules.[2]
Religious life
As of 2024, the Rev. Ly Quang Long was the temple's teacher, and the temple was affiliated with the Waikato Khmer Association Inc.[1] Its address was given as 3285 Ohaupo Road, D2 Rukuhia, Hamilton 2021, and its listed telephone numbers were 64-7-843 9886 and 021-577048.[1]
In May 2026 the Wat's monks and the Waikato Khmer Association announced a fundraising festival at the Wat for June 13 and 14, 2026, to pay for a new drainage system.[3]
Associations
Waikato Khmer Association Inc.
(associated organization).[4]
Legal name: Waikato Khmer Association Inc..
Registration identifiers: Charity (New Zealand): CC49722.
The BuddhaNet directory lists the Waikato Khmer Association Inc. as the temple's affiliation and gives the association's website as the temple's website; that website no longer exists. The directory does not state whether the association operates or owns the temple.
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 BuddhaNet World Buddhist Directory, New Zealand (2024)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Man Hau Liev, Adaptation of Cambodians in New Zealand (University of Auckland thesis, 2008), pp. 312 to 313 and 334 to 335
- ↑ Wat Aranhrangsey, Facebook post (May 23, 2026)
- ↑ BuddhaNet World Buddhist Directory, New Zealand