Watt Munisotaram
Authored by Iris Steiner-Manning
Watt Munisotaram Mucalinda Reflection Pond
The recently completed reflection pond provides a peaceful environment and a large statue of the Buddha shielded by Mucalinda.
Watt Munisotaram Buddha and Fields
Watt Munisotaram is uniquely situated in rural Hampton, Minnesota, surrounded on all sides by farm fields.
Although they did not leave their homeland by choice, the Cambodian community in Minnesota has put an immense amount of effort into making the state their home. A visual example of this effort is the Watt Munisotaram, a Cambodian Buddhist temple in Hampton, Minnesota. The temple's construction has helped the Cambodian community heal from historical trauma, establish themselves as permanent residents, and find hope in the future.
The Cambodian Genocide, which lasted from 1975 to 1979, was an “explosion of mass violence” against the Cambodian people by the Khmer Rouge, who took over the country after the Cambodian Civil War. Between 1.5 and 3 million people were killed, and many others left Cambodia in its aftermath.1 The group of refugees that began arriving in Minnesota after the genocide was in deep need of community support. In 1988, the Watt property was purchased. The construction of this temple over the past decades has been a testament to the strength of the Cambodian community. As temple devotee and board member Chanda Sour explains:
“We come from a country of zero, and then to build the largest Cambodian temple … it would not happen if we did not have that resiliency, and the generation prior to me to see there’s a strong need for a place for them to come together.”2
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“Cambodia Resource Guide.” University of Minnesota Holocaust and Genocide Studies. https://cla.umn.edu/chgs/holocaust-genocide-education/resource-guides/cambodia.↩
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“Refugees Find Peace in Buddhist Temple.” Sacred Minnesota Video Series, 2021.↩
The construction of the Watt has been a labor-intensive and ongoing process. The temple grounds are extensive, and include the main two-story temple, a reflection pond, an intricate entrance gate, and a stupa (a structure that houses a relic of the Buddha). Each of these elements is intricately detailed and colorful. The Watt has its own architect, Yav Socchea, who moved to the United States from Cambodia in 2002 when construction of the current temple began. Yav has made the Watt a piece of Cambodia situated in Minnesota. His designs are infused with Khmer cultural arts, and look remarkably similar to the temples left in Cambodia by refugees. As Sour puts it:
“You don’t have to spend $1,500-2000 to go to Asia. Just come here with 10 bucks in gas. That’s the beauty of it.”3
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Goetz, Kaomi. “A Cambodian Temple Among the Cornfields.” Twin Cities Public Television, 2018.↩
The temple is not just beautiful for beauty’s sake, though. As the Venerable Vicheth Chum explains,
“[We’ve] built up beautiful buildings, beautiful temples, a beautiful culture, and a beautiful community in Minnesota.”4
The visual appeal of the Watt Munisotaram is part and parcel of the role of the temple in the community. By creating “the most beautiful temple on Earth,” as a devotee described it, the Cambodian community of Minnesota has made an environment where they can thrive. The beauty of the temple also honors the sacred significance of the Watt. The stupa, for example, which is amazingly gilded, is decorated to honor the relics of the Buddha inside of it. This elaborate decoration is the result of a great amount of personal investment. The stupa’s 5,000 statues of the Buddha, symbolizing 5,000 years of Buddhist history, were all painted by hand at the Watt.
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“Refugees Find Peace in Buddhist Temple.” ↩
The sense of pride and accomplishment the Cambodian community feels about the Watt runs deep. It represents their resiliency in the face of historical trauma. At Watt Munisotaram, the obvious beauty of the architecture is not superficial, but a manifestation of the deep cultural and religious significance of this home for the Cambodian people in Minnesota.
Learn more from our fuller profile of Watt Munisotaram
