The Mahayana Buddhist temple at 133 Canal Street is the largest Buddhist temple in New York City. It was founded by Annie Ying in 1997 after she noticed that all of the Buddhist temples in the Lower East Side were small storefronts and were not big enough to serve as proper temples.This was not Annie’s and her husband James’ first temple, however. In 1962, they founded the Eastern States Buddhist Temple of America Inc. at 64 Mott Street, which is the oldest Buddhist temple on the east coast.
Ying said that she founded the temples not only for religious purposes, but for social ones. She said that her main motivation was to give the elderly Chinese population a place to socialize and call home.
The Canal Street temple contains a golden statue of the Buddha sitting on a lotus. At 16 feet, it is one of the largest statues of Buddha in New York. Around the main hall are depictions of events in the Buddha’s life.
The temple’s exterior showcases various different Chinese architectural designs, such as the two large golden lions at the main doors which guard the temple from evil spirits. Traditionally, homes belonging to Chinese families are guarded by bronze or stone lions.
The Mahayana sect–one of the two primary schools of Buddhism–places more emphasis on the teachings of the Buddha, with its main goal being liberation and enlightenment of all conscious beings. Mandarin is the main language used in this temple.
Public services are held on weekends.
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