Wat
Wat Khemaraphirataram
Wat Khemaraphirataram is a Khmer Buddhist temple in Auckland, New Zealand.[1]
History
In about 1990 the Auckland Khmer Buddhist Association raised a deposit on a house next to Massey Homestead at 7 Yates Road, Mangere, as a residence for a monk. The Reverend Ouch On, who had come to New Zealand from Khao I Dang refugee camp in 1989, moved to Auckland to lead the community there as head monk. The association ran the Wat, then known as Wat Khemaraphirataram or "The Temple at Mangere", and its sima (consecration boundary stones) were laid in 1993.[2]
By 2002 most of Auckland's Khmer community gathered at the Mangere Wat for festivals, and the elders saw that a bigger site was needed. The head monk from Wellington found a site at Takanini and signed the contract on the association's behalf. By May 2003 the association had moved the Wat to a two-hectare (five-acre) farm on Porchester Road, Takanini, and sold the Mangere site.[2]
On February 3, 2018, the association opened a new vihara (shrine hall) at Takanini, after about 15 years of developing the site. Monks and members finished much of its interior and exterior detail themselves. The stone Buddha image at its center, about 4 tonnes (4.4 short tons), was carved in Cambodia and brought to New Zealand in two parts. The opening celebrations lasted three days.[3]
The Auckland Khmer Buddhist Association has been a registered charity since June 30, 2008. Its purposes include building Wat Khemaraphirataram and supporting monks in their duties to Buddhism and Cambodian culture.[4]
As of 2026 a map listing, under the spelling Wat Khemaraphirataram, placed the temple on Porchester Road in Randwick Park, Auckland.[1] An earlier directory gave its locality as Mangere, Auckland.
On October 12, 2024, the Wat marked the end of the three-month rains retreat (Vassa) of the monks who had kept it there.[5]
Associations
Auckland Khmer Buddhist Association Incorporated
(operating organization).[6]
Registration identifiers: Charity (New Zealand): CC30442.
Its registered purpose is to build and run the Wat, and its charity address is 455 Porchester Road.
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mappaus, Wat Khemaraphirataram (2026)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Man Hau Liev, Adaptation of Cambodians in New Zealand (University of Auckland thesis, 2008), pp. 255 to 258 and 302 to 303
- ↑ Fraser Thomas, Opening Ceremony for new Vihara Buddhist Temple (February 21, 2018)
- ↑ Charities Services, Charities Register: Auckland Khmer Buddhist Association Incorporated (undated)
- ↑ Wat Khemaraphirataram, Facebook page (October 12, 2024)
- ↑ Charities Services, Auckland Khmer Buddhist Association Incorporated (CC30442)