Happy Chinese New Years! As part of my Chinese New Years celebration, I went to make merit (tam boon) at Wat Thai (or Thai Temple) of North Hollywood along with some friends. The temple is about a 20 minutes drive(with no traffic) from Downtown LA. Depending on when you arrive, there may or may not be many parking spots. Please keep in mind that there are two parking lots, so if the lot near the gas station is fulled, go around the block to check the other one.
The merit-making process involves giving food, grocery, or daily supplies along with donations to monks and the temple. This process took place in the main building with two large statues (yuks).
Inside, you will find a big golden Buddha placed next to a number of smaller Buddhas, an area where the monks sit, and an area that allows you to obtain materials for the merit-making process.
There are many donation boxes for those who wishes to make donations to the temple. You can even place your donations in a basket that is associated with the birthday (i.e., Monday, Tuesday, etc.) you were born.
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| Donation boxes associated with Chinese New Years. |
Typically, people will bring their own dry food or daily supplies for the merit making process. The temple also provides a package consisting of dry food, daily supplies, flowers, and water. They also provide you with a piece of paper for writing your wishes that you can place in an envelop. It is suggested that you make your donations right of way in the donation box in the area if you choose to use this package.
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| Area where you can find the package for merit making. |
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| Package provided by the temple for the Merit Making process. |
After merit making process, most people will go pay their respect to the big golden Buddha and/or the emerald Buddha. The temple also provides you with incense for this process. There's also an area where you get your fortune reading for entertain. While some may disagree with my choice of the word "entertainment," I believe that I am fully capable of making my own future. Since it was Chinese New Years, the monks had also given us a gift (a plastic bag filled with two oranges) to start the new years.
After merit making, I headed over to the food court that can be spotted by the green tents in the lower ground, behind the flags.
There are a variety of foods for purchase at a very small price (cash only). You can purchase many popular Thai dishes, including boat noodle, kanom jean, papaya salad, moo ping, fried bananas, curries. My favorite dish there is the stew pork leg with eggs (paw-lo).
I was told that you could always find a number of food stalls offering a variety of popular dishes on sundays a few years ago. Those days were long gone after the nearby neighbors had filed a complaint to the city about the associate noises.
After eating the delicious food, the temple has a variety of statues for you to see and take photos with. A walk around the main building with two big statues is definitely a great way to walk off the heavy eating. In addition to being a temple, it's a wonderful Thai cultural center. There's even a library filled with many Thai literature for all ages. For those interested in the Thai language or culture, the temple offers many sessions for teaching dance, music, meditation, and the Thai language. The teachers here are very knowledgeable and very patient to work with students of all ages.
After walking around the main temple, we decided it was time to head home. Parking could be a challenge at times, and when we got to our car, there was another car patiently waiting for our spot. It feels great after making merit. I like to do this at least once a month if schedule permits.