Sri Lankan Buddhist Temples in the Southern US
Georgia Buddhist Vihara ජෝර්ජියා බෞද්ධ විහාර
Founded in 2000, the Georgia Buddhist Vihara serves the Sri Lankan community in Atlanta and the Southeast.
Activities include: Children's Classes for youth to learn the Sinhala language as well as Buddhism; Dhamma study and sutta classes in both English and in Sinhalese; Vipassana meditation retreats and pujas; vassa ceremonies and other Buddhist holiday celebrations, and temporary summer ordination for young men.
Bhante Panamwela Wajirabuddhi, the abbot, initially came to the US and stayed at a Khmer Buddhist Temple in California, before founding the GBV in Atlanta through the generous donation of laity and Sri Lankan families. All activities are supported entirely by lay donors.
Sri Lankan Buddhist Temples in general in the US are among the most progressive of the Theravada Buddhist groups, with most offering activities in English as well as classes for children and young adults, unlike the majority of Theravada centers in the Thai, Lao, or Cambodian traditions in the US, which are not so involved and active. In addition, most Sri Lankan temples are pescatarian or vegetarian.
Georgia Buddhist Vihara ජෝර්ජියා බෞද්ධ විහාර
Founded in 2000, the Georgia Buddhist Vihara serves the Sri Lankan community in Atlanta and the Southeast.
Activities include: Children's Classes for youth to learn the Sinhala language as well as Buddhism; Dhamma study and sutta classes in both English and in Sinhalese; Vipassana meditation retreats and pujas; vassa ceremonies and other Buddhist holiday celebrations, and temporary summer ordination for young men.
Bhante Panamwela Wajirabuddhi, the abbot, initially came to the US and stayed at a Khmer Buddhist Temple in California, before founding the GBV in Atlanta through the generous donation of laity and Sri Lankan families. All activities are supported entirely by lay donors.
Sri Lankan Buddhist Temples in general in the US are among the most progressive of the Theravada Buddhist groups, with most offering activities in English as well as classes for children and young adults, unlike the majority of Theravada centers in the Thai, Lao, or Cambodian traditions in the US, which are not so involved and active. In addition, most Sri Lankan temples are pescatarian or vegetarian.
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Emory University religion class students take a field trip to visit the Georgia Buddhist Vihara.
In addition, the various Bhantes (teaching monks) at GBV are also among the regular teachers of the weekly guided meditation class at Emory Buddhist Club. Georgia Buddhist Vihara also hosts activities in English for the greater community, including weekly meditation and sutta study groups (including via Zoom) 3153 Miller Road, Lithonia, GA 30038 https://www.gavihara.org/ facebook.com/gavihara |
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Mahamevanawa Buddhist Monastery Georgia, also going by the name Atlanta Buddhist Meditation Center, is part of the Mahamevanawa network founded by monk Venerable Kiribathgoda Gnanananda Thero in 1999 in Sri Lanka. This Atlanta branch, basically a house in the northwestern suburb of Woodstock in Cherokee County (past Acworth and Marietta), opened in 2021. They do have English meditation groups that meets Saturday evenings at 7:30pm.
518 Stell Rd, Woodstock, GA 30188
https://atlantabuddhist.org/
facebook.com/Mahamevnawa.GA
518 Stell Rd, Woodstock, GA 30188
https://atlantabuddhist.org/
facebook.com/Mahamevnawa.GA
Sri Lankan Buddhist Temples in the Southern US
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Florida
Florida Buddhist Vihara Theravada Sri Lankan Buddhism Temple in Tampa 2208 Maydell Drive, Tampa, FL 33619 http://www.floridabuddhistvihara.net Mahamevnawa Meditation Monastery / Sunshine Meditation Center Florida in the Sri Lankan Forest Tradition 11727 N Ola Ave, Tampa, Florida 33612 https://www.sunshinemeditation.org/ https://www.facebook.com/sunshinemeditation/ Dhamma Wheel Meditation Society Sri Lankan Buddhist Temple in Clearwater 1518 South Haven Drive, Clearwater, FL 33764 http://www.dwms.org Georgia Georgia Buddhist Vihara Atlanta's Sri Lankan Buddhist Monastery, founded in 2000 3153 Miller Road, Lithonia, GA 30038 https://www.gavihara.org/ https://www.facebook.com/gavihara Mahamevnawa Atlanta Buddhist Meditation Center Georgia 518 Stell Rd, Woodstock, GA 30188 https://atlantabuddhist.org/ facebook.com/Mahamevnawa.GA Alabama Alabama Buddhist Vihara Founded in 2017, the Sri Lankan temple in Birmingham 1217 Xavier Street, Birmingham, AL. www.alvihara.com https://www.facebook.com/alvihara Louisiana Louisiana Buddhist Vihara and Blue Lotus Meditation Center Inaugurated in 2017, the Sri Lankan Buddhist temple in Baton Rouge. 4084 Lanier Dr, Baton Rouge, LA 70814 https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Religious-Organization/Blue-Lotus-Meditation-Center-and-Louisiana-Buddhist-Vihara-639653923089420/ Texas Houston Buddhist Vihara Founded in 1988, the Sri Lankan community monastery in Houston! 8727 Radio Street, Houston, TX 77075 https://www.hbvihara.org/ https://www.facebook.com/hbvihara/ Lone Star Buddhist Meditation Center of Texas Lone Star Buddhist Meditation Center of Texas is a branch of Mahamevnawa Buddhist Meditation Center Sri Lanka near Houston. 11223 Wind Pine Lane, Tomball TX 77375 http://houstonbuddhist.org/ Austin Vihara Founded in 2006, the Austin Buddhist Vihara is the Sri Lankan Buddhist Association in Austin Texas. One of the Bhantes (bhikkhus, or ordained monks) is a Westerner! 1501 Mangrum Street, Pflugerville, TX 78660 www.austintemple.org Austin Buddhist Center 5816 Ross Road, Del Valle, Texas 78617 Dallas Fort Worth Buddhist Vihara - Texas Buddhist Meditation Center Founded in 2008, the Venerables and Bhantes here represent the Sri Lankan community in the DFW area. 11209 Brownfield Dr, Burleson, TX 76028 https://dfwbuddhist.com/ https://www.facebook.com/dfwbuddhist/ |
South Carolina
Carolina Buddhist Vihara South Carolina's monastery formally established in 2000, now led by a Bhikkhuni (female nun monastic), a small house. 113 Woodridge Circle, Greenville, SC 29607 https://carolinabuddhist.org/ North Carolina North Carolina Buddhist Vihara Raleigh-Durham area's Sri Lankan temple, founded in 2006 initially in Garner NC. 1017 Patterson Rd, Durham, North Carolina 27704 http://ncbuddhisttemple.org/ https://www.facebook.com/NorthCarolinaBuddhistTemple/ Tennessee Tennessee Buddhist Vihara Founded in 2012, this is the Memphis area Sri Lankan Buddhist monastery. 4901 Ross Rd, Memphis, TN 38141 www.tnbvihara.org Kentucky Kentucky Meditation Center and Buddhist Vihara Given the few Buddhists in the area, this temple serves both Sri Lankan and Burmese and other Asian communities of Louisville. 4815 Manslick Rd, Louisville, KY 40216 http://www.kmcbv.org/ https://www.facebook.com/louisvillemonastery/ West Virginia Bhavana Society One of the larger Theravada Buddhist centers in the US, this rural monastery offers residential meditation retreat opportunities for both monastics and lay people, around 2 hrs drive from Washington DC. 97 Meditation Trail, High View, WV 26808 USA https://bhavanasociety.org/ Washington DC / Maryland / Virginia Washington Buddhist Vihara Founded in 1965, the Washington Buddhist Vihara in DC is the oldest Sri Lankan Buddhist temple in the United States, and possibly the first Theravada Buddhist monastery in the United States! 5017 16th Street, N.W., Washington, DC. http://www.buddhistvihara.com/ https://www.facebook.com/WashingtonBuddhistVihara Maryland Buddhist Vihara - International Buddhist Center Founded in 1996 in a northern suburb of Washington DC in Montgomery County, this Sri Lankan Buddhist association is in a residential house. 2600 Elmont St, Silver Spring, MD 20902 https://www.facebook.com/MarylandBuddhistVihara/ Mahamevnawa Meditation Center of Greater Washington DC Also renamed Buddha Meditation Center for ease of Westerner recognition, this is a branch of the Sri Lankan Theravada Forest tradition. 5004 Stone Road, Rockville, MD 20853 http://www.buddhameditationdc.org/ |