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Some of the finest churches, synagogues, mosques and temples. Architectural + decorative beauty plus historical significance.
The first Thai temple in Britain, and an ordination hall painted inside by thirty artists over eight years.
Mosques & temples
Thailand bought a house in East Sheen in 1965 and the first monks arrived that November; King Bhumibol named the temple — Light of the Buddha — and opened it himself the following summer. Wanting room for a proper ordination hall, the community moved in 1976 to four acres on Calonne Road, and the hall was consecrated in 1982. Inside are three Buddhas, one of them a bronze from the Sukhothai period some seven centuries old, and the murals that made the place famous: thirty Thai artists worked on them from 1984, led by Chalermchai Kositpipat and Panya Vijinthanasarn, in a vivid contemporary manner that was unorthodox for Buddhist painting at the time and is now read as the moment neo-traditional Thai art arrived. The life of the Buddha runs round the central room; the side rooms took until 1992. The grounds — lawns, a lake and an orchard — are the other half of the visit.
The temple publishes office hours rather than visiting times: every day 09:00 to 11:00 and 12:30 to 17:30.
Chanting and a Dhamma talk at 06:00 and again at 18:00 daily. Meditation classes Tuesday and Thursday 7–20:30, Saturday and Sunday 3–17:00.
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Data is compiled from public sources including OpenStreetMap, under the ODbL. Hours change often, so check before making a journey.