south-islandsAnnouncements

FGS Temple South Island Selected for Open Christchurch Event

01 / 14

On 7th April 2021, the New Zealand independent non-profit organisation Te Pūtahi Centre for Architecture and City-making held the Launching Ceremony of the Open Christchurch Event at Christchurch Town Hall. The Launching Ceremony solemnly introduced the 46 selected Characteristic Buildings in Christchurch that will be opened to the public on 15th – 16th  May 2021. Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel and nearly 70 representatives of the selected Characteristic Buildings attended the event. Fo Guang Shan (FGS) South Island, being the owner of one of the selected buildings, was represented by Buddha’s Light International Association (BLIA) South Island members Cao Qian and Kok Wei Low.

In order to promote the urban development of Christchurch after the Earthquake, Te Pūtahi selected 46 architecturally significant buildings in Christchurch, and open them to the public on 15th – 16th  May to allow the public to become more knowledgeable about the history, culture and geography of Christchurch. This year’s selection includes: old and new Government Buildings, Botanic Gardens Buildings, Municipal Libraries, Museums, Art Centres/Theatres, Fashionable Modernistic Buildings, Historic Schools and Colleges, Sacred Houses and Notable Residential Buildings, etc. Among all these selected buildings, FGS Temple South Island is the only Buddhist Temple. The public can access the information about all the 46 selected buildings through the official website of Open Christchurch at https://openchch.nz

Mayor Lianne presided over the Launching Ceremony for the event and expressed her joy to learn that FGS Temple South Island is one of the selected buildings. "Thank you to the organisers, sponsors and volunteers who have participated in the Open Christchurch event. I am very pleased to see that Christchurch, which has experienced the Earthquake ten years ago, has gradually recovered to its former glory. The Open Christchurch is a very meaningful event, and every selected building has its value and architectural characteristics which will allow the wider community to understand Christchurch from multiple perspectives and in a lively way. This will greatly help the future development of the City."

BLIA South Island members at the Launching Ceremony took the initiative to introduce FGS Temple to the attendees, and promoted to them the "Buddha's Birthday - The Little Prince Family Fun Day” event to be held on 17th April 2021. Mayor Lianne expressed her joy to see FGS representatives participating in this Launching Ceremony and confirmed that she looks forward to attending the Buddha's Birthday Celebration. FGS representatives then took the opportunity to convey to Mayor Lianne greetings from Venerable Abbess Manshin.

Rose, the representative of the Christchurch Library, saw FGS representatives in yellow vest and took the initiative to greet them. Rose said that she would visit the Temple on Buddha’s Birthday on behalf of the Library and will be attending the day’s activities. She hoped that establishing deeper understanding will help in the future cooperation between both parties. Many of the attendees at the Launching Ceremony claimed that they had patronised the Water Drop Café at FGS South Island and they were full of praises for the Café’s delicious vegetarian food and its serene ambience. Whereas, others have heard of the Café’s good reputation, and cannot wait to taste the vegetarian food there, and after that, to participate in the Temple’s art exhibitions and other activities.

FGS Temple South Island was selected for the Open Christchurch event based on several characteristics of the building:

  1. The design of the outer wall based on Longmen Grottoes with the four Bodhisattvas is very innovative and unique,
  3. The overall architecture perfectly combines Eastern arts with Western architecture,
  5. It is made of natural raw materials to reflect the Buddhist practice of cherishing resources,
  7. It provides a quiet and beautiful space of repose in the busy city,
  9. The Open View design of the Main Shrine manifests Buddha’s compassion in guarding the people outside the Temple,
  11. There are sufficient and diverse facilities in the building.


Each building selected for the Open Christchurch has its specific opening hours, and people can visit them according to personal preference by following the opening hours of that particular building. The opening hours of FGS Temple will be from 9am to 3pm on 15th – 16th May 2021. It is predicted that the Open Christchurch event will attract thousands of people to visit the Temple, marking a new milestone for FGS’s concept of Humanistic Buddhism in New Zealand.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1VdgH_Y8Sg&ab_channel=%E4%BD%9B%E5%85%89%E5%B1%B1%E4%BA%BA%E9%96%93%E8%A1%9B%E8%A6%96