Water for the monks

Staffordshire has its own Buddhist monastery - the Wat Mahathat just outside King's Bromley - and monks come from Thailand to study here.
The institution priides itself on its openness and there are public gatherings and meditation sessions here.

Today, hundreds gathered on the site for the festival of Songkran, when water is poured over the hands of the monks by those attending.

Buddhists at Kings Bromley

Yes, there is a Buddhist monastery in Staffordshire. It's not well-known, and is actually a retreat for monks, not a public place of worship, but they do have open-days now and again when the monks (mostly from Thailand) are gently welcoming. They do courses too.

And this is not really a 'temple' I suppose. This worship area is, er, actually a former conservatory in a large Victorian house lying just outside the village of Kings Bromley.

The village has embraced the monks, and works with them to put on occasional Thai-themed festivals on the playing fields - with handicrafts, Thai boxing, Thai costumes etc.

I was reminded of Buddhavihara, as it's called, when I saw the recent BBC TV programme on the wonders of the Buddhist world. Unsurprisingly perhaps, they overlooked Staffordshire's claim.


Links: Buddhavihara / British-Thai Fayre / BBC: Wonders of the Buddhist World