Buddhist Maha Vihara ( si, මහින්ද්රා බෞද්ධ පන්සල) (also called as the Brickfields Buddhist Temple) is a Sri Lankan temple situated in Brickfields of

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

. The temple became a focal point for the annual

Wesak Vesak (Pali: ''Vesākha''; sa, Vaiśākha), also known as Buddha Jayanti, Buddha Purnima and Buddha Day, is a holiday traditionally observed by Buddhists in South Asia and Southeast Asia as well as Tibet and Mongolia. The festival commemora ...

festival within the city suburb.

History

After the establishment of the first Sinhalese temple called Bodhi Langka Ram Vihar in

Perak Perak () is a state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, and Selangor to the south. Thailand' ...

British Malaya The term "British Malaya" (; ms, Tanah Melayu British) loosely describes a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Singapore that were brought under British hegemony or control between the late 18th and the mid-20th century. ...

in 1889, a second temple was proposed by the Sinhalese community in 1894 to be construct in an area within the administration capital of Kuala Lumpur where large numbers of their community civil servants are living and working. Facing financial difficulties to acquire a land, the community then appeal to the British government through English engineer C.E. Spooner. The

British government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_est ...

responded to the request but said any land in the administration capital intended for public service can only be granted towards an organisation. After a thorough discussion among the Sinhalese community, they agreed to form an organisation called the ''Sāsana Abhiwurdhi Wardhana Society'' which also responsible to resolve

social issue A social issue is a problem that affects many people within a society. It is a group of common problems in present-day society and ones that many people strive to solve. It is often the consequence of factors extending beyond an individual's cont ...

s among their community with a foundation stone for the temple shrine room being laid down on 25 August 1894. Through the

inaugural In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inaugur ...

meeting among the community, they agreed that the appointment of the temple

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. Th ...

should be from

British Ceylon British Ceylon ( si, බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය ලංකාව, Britānya Laṃkāva; ta, பிரித்தானிய இலங்கை, Biritthāṉiya Ilaṅkai) was the British Crown colony of present-day Sri Lanka between ...

and the temple administration would be under the Sinhalese. A living quarters was then built to house the first

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedic ...

Patthalagedera Dhammananda Thera and his student Godagama Sobhita Thera from British Ceylon who later arrived in 1895 which also marked the foundation of the temple in the same year; despite the structure was only completed in the first decade of the 20th century, as the control from one primary race became a constraint on the temple development until the policy was rebuked in the later years. Although the temple management is solely controlled by the Sinhalese, a donor list published by the temple management showed that local Chinese Buddhist also donated a huge sum of money during the temple

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and ...

; the largest sum of donation coming from Chinese Kapitan of Kuala Lumpur, Yeap Quang Seng. Since 1920, Chinese devotees also became increasingly significant in the temple.

Features

Since the foundation of the

organisation An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...

, the ''Sāsana Abhiwurdhi Wardhana Society'' is responsible for the administration of the temple and all activities conducted on site. Religious activities are annually organised by the society. With the establishment of the modern country of the

Federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-gover ...

of Malaysia, the society was registered on 3 April 1962. Following the amendments of the country constitution in 1996, the society name was changed to the Buddhist Missionary Society Malaysia with the temple become its

headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

. File:Decorations at Buddhist Maha Vihara Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.jpg, Decorations at the temple during

in 2006. File:Lotus Water Foundation at Buddhist Maha Vihara Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.jpg,

Lotus flower ''Nelumbo nucifera'', also known as sacred lotus, Laxmi lotus, Indian lotus, or simply lotus, is one of two extant species of aquatic plant in the family Nelumbonaceae. It is sometimes colloquially called a water lily, though this more often re ...

decoration at the temple during Wesak in 2007.

References

News articles

External links

* * {{Malaysian historical architectures and sites Religious buildings and structures completed in 1895 Buddhist temples in Malaysia Buildings and structures in Kuala Lumpur Religious buildings and structures in Kuala Lumpur Tourist attractions in Kuala Lumpur Overseas Sri Lankan Buddhist temples Sri Lankan Theravada Buddhist temples and monasteries 19th-century Buddhist temples