A Thai temple situated in a residential community in Edinburgh has invited members of the public to attend low-cost meditation and yoga classe s following a renovation of the premises.
The Dhammapadipa Temple, which was first established in 2005 by members of the Thai community that settled in Scotland, was housed in a three bedroom residential property before it was recently transformed.
The premises, which is situated in the Criaglockhart/ Slateford area of the capital, has been a central hub for members of Edinburgh’s South East Asian community and residents in the local area.
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Whilst undergoing a £50,000 renovation, the Temple also carried out outreach work in the local area that included the set up of various food bank projects as well as initiating programmes to support vulnerable and isolated individuals.
Alongside this, they have also supported those with a South East Asian background who have suffered from racial abuse and worked with local health boards to help with the uptake of vaccinations - often providing translation and transportation.
The Temple says that they also pride themselves on their ability to be able to bring together people from various ethnicities whilst offering mental health support in a safe manner.
In order to celebrate their renovation, which has seen the former residential property transformed into a traditional Thai Temple, they have invited members of the public to take part in affordable mediation and yoga classes that will be provided at an affordable price by professionals.
Head monk, Phramaha Prasert Prommala, said they are proud of the results which were achieved through the help and generosity of local tradespeople and the fundraising efforts of their community.
He said: “The quality of products and finishes merits a far higher budget, but we must give credit to all our materials providers and tradespeople who tirelessly worked to tight timescales and kept their costs down to achieve this on budget.
“Whilst we followed the plans to the letter, walking into our main hall still feels special. The feedback from everyone who enters is exceptional.
“We have an open door policy to all, regardless of religious beliefs or age and we want to invite anyone interested to come now and visit us.
“One big advantage of the renovation is that we can now offer meditation classes from our monks who are qualified meditation masters, yoga classes, Buddhism talks, morning and evening chanting.
“While we outsource yoga teaching instruction, we still run all our projects on a not-for-profit basis. This keeps prices very low and the activities are as inclusive as possible to those who perhaps may not afford private/commercially offered classes.
“This is all about a community wellbeing focused approach for everyone who would like to balance and refocus their mind and thoughts through meditation, and for your mind and body to feel fantastic after our yoga sessions with the charismatic yoga expert teacher, Lisha Zhang.”
Staff at the Temple are understood to have worked extensively to raise funds and to secure the charitable support of local traders to complete the refurbishment. They even took the plans to a design agency in Bangkok to ensure the finished design offered a modern Thai style prayer room and facilities that remained in line with their Edinburgh surroundings.
During the recent refurbishment, the previous front facade of two garage doors have been turned into large soundproof windows with modern cladding outside.
A massive logistical exercise was also carried out to relocate the Temple’s massive 500kg Buddha into a new area, which is the facility’s showpiece feature.
Information on the meditation and yoga classes, plus all services and the history of the Temple - which is generally open every day from 9am to 7pm - can be seen on its website at www.dhammapadipa.com
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