Wat
Wat Sangharam
Wat Sangharam is the Khmer Buddhist Wat of the Khmer Kulturzentrum Schweiz in Walterswil, in the canton of Solothurn, Switzerland.[1][2] The center has stood beside the Reformed church in Walterswil since 2012.[2][3]
History
Since July 1979 about 500 Cambodian families, some 2,500 people, have received political asylum in Switzerland.[4] From 1979 to 1982 a Cambodian self-help group in Zürich, the Foyer Khmer, worked with Swiss aid agencies to build a social network for newly arrived families. Cambodians and Swiss founded the Khmer association in 1981 to create a Khmer cultural center, which opened in Zürich on January 23, 1983. The center moved to Obfelden in 2006 and stayed there until the end of March 2012. Since April 2012 it has been at Kirchgasse 12 in Walterswil.[2]
In 2018 the center planned a house for funeral urns next to its building in Walterswil, with room for about 300 urns. The municipality asked for changes to the first design, which did not suit the village, so the plan became an ordinary house. The president of the center at the time, Sinh Tra, had come to Switzerland as a refugee in the 1970s and built up the center for his compatriots.[3]
Religious life
The Wat follows the Theravada tradition.[5] Monks live at the center. They perform Buddhist ceremonies and serve visitors as advisers, counselors and guides in times of conflict. The board is responsible for the center, and the resident monks and their helpers oversee its daily life.[4] As of 2018, celebrations were held only on Saturdays, out of consideration for the neighbors, and this included the ceremony held seven days after a death. The center has a meditation room and a library.[3]
Community
Since 1983, 560 Khmer families have taken part regularly in the center's activities.[2] In 2018 the association had just over 600 members.[3] The center keeps close contact with the Interreligious Working Group in Switzerland and the Buddhist community of Switzerland, and it takes part in the round table of religions in Solothurn.[2] As of 2018, it held an interreligious walk each year from the center to the Reformed church and then to the Catholic church.[3] The dance group Morodok Khmer Swiss is part of the center.[1]
Associations
Khmer Kulturzentrum Schweiz (operating organization).[6]
An independent, politically neutral association run by a board; funded by members' contributions, events and patrons.
See also
- Wat Swiskhemararam, a Khmer Wat in Péry, canton of Bern
- All organizations
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Khmer Kulturzentrum Schweiz, Kontakt (undated)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Relinfo, Khmer Kulturzentrum (undated)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 SRF, Kambodschanisches Zentrum: Die Khmer bekommen eine Ruhestätte in Walterswil (July 29, 2018)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Khmer Kulturzentrum Schweiz, home page (undated)
- ↑ BuddhaNet, World Buddhist Directory: Europe (undated)
- ↑ Khmer Kulturzentrum Schweiz, Kontakt (undated)