By Tex (David) Allen

The Buddhist Association Of Pennsylvania will install and dedicate a large statue of the famous oriental religious figure “Buddha” later this month, August 2013, as part of the newly constructed front entrance display at the CHUA PHAP HOA Buddhist Temple located at the corner of South 2nd Street and Cherry Street at 203 Cherry St., Columbia PA 17512.

(General Phone for the Buddhist Aassociation Of PA Chua Phap Hoa Temple in Columbia PA USA: 717 – 684 – 4301, also Mr. Dang. T. Thao at 717-684-7368,  and Mr. Le T. Mu Ng at 717-431-0711, and Mr. Nguyen Quang at 610-927-2190…principal contact persons identified as part of a Vietnamese language sign on the Temple office door at 203 Cherry St.).

The Chua Phap Hoa Buddist Temple has been located in Columbia PA USA for the past 18 years when the Buddhist Association Of Pennsylvania purchased a large, ornate, no longer used of occupied Methodist Church building located at 203 Cherry Street, Columbia PA USA 17512 in the Columbia PA Historic District (designated by the National Register Of Historic Places in 1983), directly across the street from the oldest existing building in Columbia PA USA, the “Wright Ferry Mansion,” 38 South Second Street, Columbia PA, the most famous and often visited tourist site in Columbia PA (daily tours operated currently during summer months by the Hess Foundation…no charge for the hourly tours).

The newly created entrance display is located exactly at the south-east corner of Cherry Street and South Second Street in Columbia PA USA, and includes a new enclosed and artificially lit sign enclosed in an oriental motif decor structure which displays the words “Buddhist Association Of Pennsylvania CHUA PHAP HOA TEMPLE,” the latter four words in large gold-colored 5 inch high letters).

A large pedestal to be used as the base of the new statue of Buddha has already been constructed, and measures about 4 feet high with a surface diameter of about 4 feet across.

The CHUA PHAP HOA Temple is one of several Buddhist Temples which have been established in the USA during the past 30 years.

The present congregation of the Columbia PA USA based CHUA PHAP HOA Buddhist Temple is made up mostly of persons born in Vietnam or related to Vietnamese ancestors.

A parsonage (formerly the Methodist parsonage) is part of the building complex of the temple, and is occupied by the leader of the Buddhist congregation.

However, most of the persons who attend weekend religious services and group social events held by the congregation do not reside in Columbia PA USA, nor in other parts of Lancaster County PA.

The congregation is made up of members who commute from Philadelphia PA USA and other east coast USA urban centers.

Most of the temple members are Vietnamese born or descendants of recent Vietnamese immigrants to the USA.

A large population of Vietnamese nationals with ties to the Buddhist religion reside in the West Coast states of the USA, and a much smaller population, proportionately, live in the East Coast USA states in the Mid-Atlantic states region served by the Buddhist Association Of Pennsylvania.

The newly constructed entrance area outside of the Columbia PA USA Buddhist Temple give markedly increased visibility to the presence on non-Christian religious groups in Pennsylvania and elsewhere in the East Coast USA region, and reflects the growing population of Buddhist persons newly settled in the USA, many of whom are very prosperous.

The large new statue of Buddha in Columbia PA USA, when it is set up and displayed permanently, promises to provide a very powerful visual statement of significant changes which have come to Columbia PA USA, Pennsylvania USA, and the USA generally.