Donate for the Building Extension Project [ecp code=”donation”]
Florida Buddhist Vihara is a major Theravada Buddhist place of worship located in a pleasant setting in suburban Tampa. It was established back in 1997 by Rev. Kokkavita Wipulasara in order to satisfy the religious needs of Sri Lankan devotees in the state of Florida. Starting from its modest beginning, today it has grown gradually to become a leading place of worship for not only Florida’s Sri Lankans and other Buddhists but also those of other neighboring states as well. An important additional motivation for the establishment of the Vihara was to instill Buddhist heritage in your beloved children, which also is being achieved successfully. Furthermore, the Vihara has seen the increased participation of many devotees of other nationalities such as American, Thai, Laotian, Burmese, Indian and Bangladeshi, who realize and value the unique path offered by Buddhism for spiritual salvation. On the other hand, it has become increasingly tedious to fulfill the numerous religious needs of our devotees and continue the mission of the Vihara with the limited monthly maintenance budget furnished by some devotees, and above all, without the minimum facilities that such places of worship must be equipped with. In view of the above, the opportunity that we have received now to achieve the long term aspiration of a spacious sermon hall can be regarded as somewhat of a blessing. The first step toward this goal has been accomplished with the approval by the Hillsborough County of the relevant building extension plan and other applicable documents. Therefore, time has come to plan the finances for the above building project. It is our strong desire to collect the estimated funds of $133,000 for the building extension and an additional $7,000 for upgrading the dilapidated existing facilities, before the approaching Vesak ceremony. We appreciate your benevolence in helping us achieve this financial goal.
Therefore, we compassionately invite all devotees and well-wishers living in Florida, the rest of the United States and abroad who read this to provide your affordable maximum donation to accomplish this project in a timely manner. We are pleased to inform you that the construction of the sermon hall started on Feb. 3rd, 2017 and it is expected to be completed by the upcoming Vesak festival, as stated before.
The following website will enable you to review the updates of the building fund and also record your contribution.
Few photographs of the old sermon hall and the proposed new construction can be seen at the end of this page. More photos can be seen by visiting the Gallery page.
