Photo Karen Graham. Pictured is the Main Buddha Hall that dominates the landscape at the Wutai Shan Buddhist Temple Gardens. The facility was built without a single nail, relying instead on ancient building techniques using wooden interlocking brackets.
The Wutain Shan Buddhist Garden project is already thirty-four years in the making, with many decades to go before its completion. In 1990, The Buddhist Association of Canada Cham Shan Temple acquired 1,350 acres on four sites in the Cavan Monaghan/Kawartha Lakes region.
These sites will be home to the creation of an abbreviated, North American version of the sacred pilgrimage of the Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains in China, including Wutai Shan, Omei Shan, Putuo Shan and Jiuhua Shan Buddhist Gardens. The Wutai Shan Buddhist Garden located at the westerly edge of Cavan Monaghan on Ski Hill Road north of Bethany is the first site to be developed and is now the largest Chinese Buddhist installation in Canada.
Photo Karen Graham.
For several years after the development project first began, the organization held annual Open House events to allow the public to witness the gradual transformation of this rural Ontario property as they installed small lakes, gardens, statues and the beginning of their wooden structures throughout the site. After being shuttered for four years due to Covid, this spring the Buddhist Gardens opened their doors in what organizers refer to as a “soft opening”. Visitors are now welcome from 9:30 to 6pm every day except Tuesday and Wednesday until mid-November when it will close for the season.
Much has been achieved since the Garden’s last Open House in 2019 with the most significant change being the completion of the Main Buddha Hall. This facility sits majestically on a hill overlooking the vast, 535 acre complex. This structure reflects the style of the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Foguang Temple in the Chinese province of Shanxi, which was built in 857 AD and still stands today. This new hall has a footprint of 15,263 square feet and stands almost170 feet high. The building is an example of Tang-dynasty architectural style and its construction followed ancient Chinese building techniques that rely on large wooden interlocking brackets instead of nails. The wooden components consist primarily of high grade rosewood imported from Laos, as well as other imported materials such as camphor and yew. The temple roof boasts 24,200 shingles that weigh roughly 61 tons.
The extensive complex includes five large outdoor platforms, eleven wooden structures and twelve traditional Chinese-styled gardens featuring a single species including roses, Lavender, hydrangeas and Cherry Blossoms.
Photo Karen Graham.
Guests are greeted at the entrance by a massive smiling Buddha statue standing 140 feet in height. Weighing almost 700 tons, it was shipped in pieces but the head of the statue has been carved from a single piece of stone. The image bears prayer beads in one hand and a bag of blessings in the other. Its open and welcoming expression symbolizes a desire to bestow blessings on all people, here and around the world.
The Wutai Shan Temple pays homage to the leading Bodhisattva, Manjusri. This religious leader ranks first due to his “infinite wisdom”, which the project leaders acknowledge will be a key ingredient to the successful completion of this massive project. The impressive bronze statue on the eastern platform depicts the Four-Armed Manjushri wearing a crown of enlightenment sitting on a pedestal protected by four guardian warriors.
The abbot Ven. Dayi Shi is President of the Buddhist Association of Canada and has been instrumental in the project. He sees Wutai Shan Buddhist Garden in Canada being a testimony to the development of Chinese Buddhism and promotion of Chinese culture in North America.
The Wutai Shan Buddhist Garden is also home to the Buddhist College of Canada, which is a joint program with the University of Toronto. Courses taught by U of Toronto professors operate on weekends and will reopen for registration next spring.
Disciples of Buddha strive to “refrain from doing all bad things and diligently do all good deeds and purify the mind. This Shan, or ‘mountain” in Cavan Monaghan is also a beautiful location where the temple founders hope Buddhism will flourish as visitors acquire an understanding of this peaceful religion and find their own path to enlightenment. KG