Wat Buddhapadipa

UNITED KINGDOM, London

This was the first Thai Buddhist temple built in the United Kingdom. It was founded by the London Buddhist Temple Foundation in 1965 in Richmond and was relocated to its current location, Wimbledon, in 1976. The present building was constructed in 1979 and was opened to the public in 1982.
The building is tall and narrow and surrounded by balustrades. Its steep three-tier roof has bargeboards carved with stylized nagas, along with garudas on the ends of the ridges. Of the two colorful pediments, one is above the entrance with its highly decorated doors. The walls contain triple sets of pointed windows.
Inside the temple, the walls are covered with murals of the life of the Buddha painted by the artists Chalermchai Kositpipat and Panya Vijinthanasarn in a surreal style using brilliant colors. They are unusual in that they are populated with images from modern life, unlike classical Thai murals.
At one end is a great shrine with three statues of the Buddha. The main one, cast in black bronze, was presented by the King of Thailand in 1966. The second is golden and was presented by the foundation committee in 1982. The third is a replica of the Emerald Buddha at the Wat Phra Kaeo in Bangkok and was brought to England in 1990.
In addition there are statues of Sariputra and Maudgalyayana on either side of the Buddha, also presented in 1990. Before the images of the Buddha there are nine tables inlaid with mother-of-pearl.