Phap Hoa Temple ( Vietnamese: ''Chùa Pháp Hoa'', ,

Chữ Hán Chữ Hán (𡨸漢, literally "Chinese characters", ), Chữ Nho (𡨸儒, literally "Confucian characters", ) or Hán tự (漢字, ), is the Vietnamese term for Chinese characters, used to write Văn ngôn (which is a form of Classical Chinese ...

: 法葩寺), meaning

Dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...

Lotus Lotus may refer to: Plants *Lotus (plant), various botanical taxa commonly known as lotus, particularly: ** ''Lotus'' (genus), a genus of terrestrial plants in the family Fabaceae **Lotus flower, a symbolically important aquatic Asian plant also ...

Temple, is a Buddhist temple located in Pennington, South Australia. Established in 1978, it moved to its current location in December 1989. It is a member of the United Vietnamese Buddhist Congregation and the head is the Most Venerable Thich Nhu Hue, and the abbot is the Reverend Thich Vien Tri.

History

Pháp Hoa Temple was established in 1978 at a small house located at 83 Addison Road,

Rosewater, South Australia Rosewater is one of the western suburbs of Adelaide and is located 10 km north-west of Adelaide's central business district. Although mainly residential, there are many shops along Grand Junction Road and the closed Rosewater Loop railwa ...

by a group of Vietnamese immigrants, led by Nguyen Van Tuoi for the purpose of attending to the spiritual needs of

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

Vietnamese Buddhists. The Most Venerable Thich Nhu Hue was invited to come from

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

to direct the temple. Due to the small size, a search for a plot of larger land to construct a temple was undertaken, and building of the temple in its current location began on a 5000 m² plot on 19 March 1984. The main hall of the temple was opened on 23 December 1989. On 26 June 2003 the main hall suffered extensive damage, when an intruder irreparably vandalized the majority of the statues and decorations. This required the replacement of a large number of statues. Along with a new statue of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva located in the courtyard of the Temple, and a Three Entrance Fence, the refurbished hall was unveiled in a ceremony on 27 June 2004 in the presence of South Australian Premier Mike Rann and the Opposition leader Rob Kerin.

History

See also