Tinh Xa Trung Tam
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Tịnh Xá Trung Tâm is a Buddhist temple in Ho Chi Minh City, the largest city in Vietnam. It was founded in 1975 and is the spiritual birthplace of the khất sĩ tradition of Vietnamese Buddhism that attempts to recreate the original tradition of the Buddhist sangha in walking barefeet and begging for alms. The temple is located at 7 Nguyễn Trung Trực Street, in the district of Bình Thạnh.[1]
The founding patriarch of the khất sĩ tradition was Thích Minh Đăng Quang, who was born Nguyễn Thành Đạt, in the village of Phú Hậu, in Bình Phú prefecture, in Tam Bình district in Vinh Long Province in the Mekong Delta. He founded the traditionemple in 1944 with the vow that came to be the motto of the khất sĩ tradition.[1]
The temple is set on a plot of 5490 square metres, and construction of the building began in April 1965 and took ten years. The plot of land was donated by a Buddhist by the name of Nguyễn Văn Chà. Initially, the complex comprised of a main ceremonial hall, a patriarch mall, two compounds for the sangha and a set of huts for solitary religious practice. The temple was the headquarters of the Vietnamese khất sĩ Sangha Association from 1966 until 1980.[1]
In November 1980, the abbot Thích Giác Toàn along with Thích Giác Phúc organised for a expansion that involved the erection of two storied compound which included the main ceremonial hall. The compound was built in an octagonal shape, in accordance with the plans of the architect Nguyễn Hữu Thiện. The tower part of the compound stands 4.40 m tall, with octagonal sides of length 2.25 m. At the top of the temple are thirteen miniature levels, that represent the thirteen realms of existence. The tower was contrutced from wood, with lotuses depicted on the exterior walls. There are twelve paintings that depict various events in the life of Gautama Buddha. The entire artwork on and within the tower was the work of Thiện Ngộ and his group of artists from the Art School of Long An. The artwork was implemented from 1982 to 1984.[1]
The centrepiece of the main hall is a statue of Gautama Buddha. On the internal wall of the temple are eight murals of the life of Gautama Buddha by Minh Dung and Hai Long.[1]
Behind the main hall is the patriarch mall, the centre of which is a statue of the bodhisattva Ksitigarbha. In the front courtyard of the temple is a statue Avalokiteshvara bodhisattva, which stands 9 m, on a 3 m high lotus seat. Before 1975, the Vietnamese khất sĩ Sangha Association had around 300 temples in southern Vietnam, and the temple was the headquarters of the organization.[1]
