Fo Guang Shan Temple of Toronto

CANADA, Ontario, Mississauga

This branch temple of Fo Guang Shan is one of the largest Buddhist temples in Canada. The temple was officially opened in 1997. It is a designated place to visit as part of the curriculum on religious studies in schools of various levels in Toronto.
The temple occupies 8,000 sq m and consists of a three-story building faced with red bricks and roofed with glazed tiles. On the first story there is a tea house, as well as the main hall, which houses seated statues of the Five Dhyani Buddhas. The hall also enshrines Avalokitesvara and Ksitigarbha Bodhisattvas on the right and left sides of the back wall. The remaining walls are filled with niches of seated Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of various sizes. There are conference rooms, a museum, the Prajna Hall, which is a library, and a broadcast and recording studio on the second story. The third story holds the meditation hall. The basement level contains classrooms and a dining hall, which can accommodate 1,000 people.