Buddhapadipa Temple

Buddhapadipa Temple, 14 Calonne Road, Wimbledon Parkside, London, SW19 5HJ, England

Wat Buddhapadipa in London was the first Buddhist temple in the United Kingdom. It was established by the London Buddhist Temple Foundation to spread Buddhist teachings in Europe.

The present beautiful and remarkable building was created in 1976. The celebration of monastic boundary, held on October 30, 1982, enabled Wat Buddhapadipa to become a formal temple according to Thai tradition: in fact, the only Thai temple ever built in Europe.

It has become one of Europe's most important Buddhist training centres. In 1986, when the British Museum organized an exhibition "Buddhism : Art and Faith", a London newspaper even commented that there was no need to go far in order to understand Buddhism, since visits to the British Museum and Wat Buddhapadipa would be enough. The grounds of the Temple cover a monastic area of approximately four acres, with trees and an ornamental lake as well as the temple itself.

The temple welcomes respectful visitors whether they are Buddhist or not.