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Temple of progress

For area Buddhists, a traditional Thai-style temple shows how far they've come in planting roots.

By S.I. ROSENBAUM
Published November 18, 2005

PALM RIVER - Wat Mongkolratanaram - in Thai, the "temple of good luck" - is a little white concrete block building about the size of a living room.

But inside, housed in a glass case, is a model of the temple that will be: an edifice with a peaked orange roof, ornate carvings and gold leaf.

Members of Wat Mongkolratanaram are building a traditional Thai structure to replace the one that's served the Tampa Bay Buddhist community since the early 1980s.

To them, they say, the new temple will be a symbol of how far the community has come.

"Oh, gosh, it's going to be a big deal for us," said Gunniga Messina, 55, of Tampa. "We (would) like to see something happen. We (would) like to see the culture, where we came from."

Messina wore a red apron emblazoned with the temple's name as she served up home-style Thai food at the temple's Sunday market last weekend.

For two decades, the market has been a major source of income for the temple. Volunteers sell steaming bowls of ambrosial beef soup, cool paper cups of sweet iced tea, fried bananas and yams, and gooey coconut-scallion desserts.

The profits have helped to fund the ongoing construction of new dormitories for the temple's six monks.

But so far, treasurer Somsak Sakmanalit said, the community has only raised about a third of the more than $1-million they'll need to build a traditional Thai temple.

That doesn't bother Messina. The ground has been broken on the new temple, and that gives her hope.

"I saw that they already started building it; that makes me happy," she said.

Norman Nordlund, 56, who converted to Buddhism after marrying a Thai woman, said Thai temples are usually elaborate.

"In Thailand, the temples are very large and beautifully constructed with ornate statues and a lot of gold," he said as he peeled green papayas.

In any community, he added, "having a beautiful temple or church or synagogue is a sign of onward progress."

There are practical considerations, too. The current small temple building can't handle the crowds that arrive with big holidays, like last Saturday's Loy Krathong when Thais floated lit candles on the surface of the Tampa Bypass Canal

Last weekend, the temple held a handful of men and women who knelt in prayer and meditation. Fluorescent lights hanging from a drop ceiling shone on walls covered in 1970s-era wood paneling.

Outside, temple treasurer Sakmanalit sat under an awning. To help raise money, he said, the temple is selling two opportunities to contribute to the temple building.

Three dollars buys a bucket of sand, which can be ceremoniously dumped on the construction site to help "build the foundation." Nine dollars buys an engraved roof tile, imported from Thailand.

"The way we think, you help build the foundation, and it will help reflect on the foundation of your life, too," Sakmanalit said. "It will be solid."

As Sakmanalit waited for donations, a family walked up to him. The mother gave Sakmanalit $3, and her preschool-aged daughter happily dumped her bucket of sand on the temple's foundation.

- S.I. Rosenbaum can be reached at 661-2442 or srosenbaum@sptimes.com

[Last modified November 17, 2005, 08:14:05]