Wat
Wat Dhammaratanaram
Wat Dhammaratanaram, also known as Wat Strasbourg, is a Khmer Buddhist Wat in Ostwald, near Strasbourg in northeastern France.[1] It was inaugurated on August 17, 2020, in a French house that its community turned into a Wat.[1] The Wat's own page gives its address as 86 rue de Lingolsheim in Ostwald.[2]
History
The Wat belongs to the association Les amis de la civilisation cambodgienne. The association was reorganized in 2014 and set out to build a Wat for the Cambodian community of eastern France. With donations from several families, it bought an abandoned house and turned it, step by step, into a place of worship and culture. About ten families did most of the work.[1]
The house kept its French architecture, with blue and gold walls inside. Buddha images and other objects came from Cambodia by cargo ship. The monks made the wall sculptures themselves: they poured cement into silicone molds brought from Cambodia, then fixed the pieces to the walls and painted them.[1]
Religious life
As of 2024, four Cambodian monks lived at the Wat. Its year follows the lunar calendar, with the main festivals of Kathina (the robe-offering festival), Pchum Ben and the Cambodian New Year. The monks also hold funeral ceremonies and vigils, and the faithful bring them food twice a day. The 2024 Kathina was held on October 27.[1]
Community
In 2024 nearly 200 families of Cambodian heritage lived in and around Strasbourg. Families also come to the Wat from other parts of France and from Germany and Switzerland. Most members of the association were born in Cambodia and fled the war there; some first met in refugee camps in Thailand and Vietnam.[1] In 2024 Henri Ouk was the association's director and Kim Vibol its vice-president.[1]
Associations
Les Amis De La Civilisation Cambodgienne (operating organization).[3]
Reorganized in 2014; bought the house and opened the Wat in 2020.