A Lunar New Year celebration was held at the new Buddist temple, Jan. 30.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Ban TK Tay Truc
January 31, 2022 - 6:00 PM
Chuc Mung Nam Moi.
Lunar New Year celebrations have begun at Kelowna’s newest Buddhist temple.
The former St. Aidan's Anglican Church site on Rutland Road has been transformed in the last few years to become the Okanagan Buddhist Cultural Centre.
On Jan. 30, cultural centre members held a small celebration to honor the new year. Plans are to have an official grand opening of the Buddhist temple to the public in September, 2022, said volunteer Hang Tran.
The 89-year-old church was empty for decades before volunteers of the Buddhist centre took it over and spend the last few years conducting renovations.
The tiny church opened in 1933 at the corner of Rutland Road North and Mugford Road and was an important part of early Rutland.
Built by volunteer labour on land donated by Ben Hardie, the original church was designed by Enoch Mugford, superintendent of the Black Mountain Irrigation District and local developer Hector Maranda.
READ MORE: Tiny Rutland church a historical gem
The temple is open on every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and everyone is welcome; Buddhist sutra chanting will be in Vietnamese language, Tran said.
Lunar New Year marks the beginning of the lunar calendar. The new year begins Feb. 1 and lasts up to 15 days.
Celebrated in countries in East and Southeast Asia, the month is used to eat, play and entertain, Hang said.
This new year is the Year of the Tiger.
A historic church on Rutland Road is now the site of the Okanagan Buddhist Cultural Centre.
(CARLI BERRY / iNFOnews.ca)
- This story was corrected Feb. 2, 2022 to say the temple is open to the public and Buddhist sutra chanting will be in Vietnamese language.
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