About Redbridge Buddhist Vihara

Prior to the establishment of the Redbridge Buddhist Cultural Centre in 1998, the Buddhist community of the London Borough of Redbridge did not have a temple of its own. To change that, twenty families came together under the leadership of Reginald Wimalasundera, meeting to raise the funds needed to purchase a suitable site in and around Ilford.

With no resident monk at the time, raising the £40,000 deposit on a building priced at £180,000 was a formidable undertaking. The original twenty families gave generously, and through many fundraising events and additional loans the community secured ownership of the property. The temple was inaugurated in November 1998.

The property at 9 Balfour Road was found two years before the opening, and its owner kindly held the price for a year while the money was gathered. Only half of the deposit had been raised, no bank would lend to a new charity with no guaranteed income, and appeals to the Lottery Fund and the council came to nothing. In the end friends, Buddhist and non-Buddhist, lent the remaining £20,000 interest free and without any guarantee, and a bank agreed the mortgage once the Wimalasunderas guaranteed to rent rooms in the building for their educational classes. Changing the building from a private home to a place of public worship cost a further sum, which was negotiated down to £10,000.

Everyone gave what they could: flowers and monthly meals were sold, and there were raffles, concerts and food fairs. Over the years the community cooked more than 30,000 hoppers. The constitution was adopted and registered with the Charity Commission on 22 December 1998, with a board of five founding trustees.

In its early years, before Venerable Pethigamuwe Hemaratana took up residence, the temple was cared for by several visiting monks under the guidance of Venerable Bogoda Seelawimala, Head of the London Vihara and now Chief Sangha Nayaka of Great Britain. Every Sunday, in rain or sunshine, he travelled to Redbridge by public transport to lead the weekly puja.

From 2004, through the devoted service of Venerable Hemaratana, the Vihara grew to offer the full range of religious and educational activities that serve the wider Buddhist community today.

As the Vihara grew, the main Buddha chamber was created. The large Buddha statue was donated by the Munasinghe family, who also gave generously to the Vihara fund.

Devotees came from across Redbridge and, in many cases, from as far as Kent and the furthest towns of Essex, so the building was extended between 2008 and 2010. The growth is clearest at the Annual Katina Ceremony, which began inside the Vihara and is now held off-site, with around 500 to 600 devotees attending, including Buddhists from other communities such as Bangladesh and Nepal.

The Executive Committee, created in 1999, manages the day-to-day running of the Vihara, organises fundraising events and works to raise the profile of the temple, while the trustees oversee it within the framework of the Charity Commission.