15/05/2025 06:00
The religious and spiritual (Buddhist) activities of the Vietnamese community in Hungary can be divided into three phases:
The first phase – Before 2009:
During this period, the practice of Vietnamese Buddhist culture took place mainly within individual and family settings. On major Buddhist holidays or the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month, members of the Vietnamese community would visit the Chinese pagodas in Budapest’s 15th and 16th districts individually. Some travelled to the Indian pagoda in the town of Hatvan, while others went to the Tibetan pagoda located in Zala County to pray.
The second phase – 2009–2014:
After 2009, the religious practice of the Vietnamese Buddhist community became increasingly organized, and the number of believers steadily grew. It was during this time that the Vietnamese Buddhist Association was founded, with its first headquarters located in a devotee’s private home in Budapest’s 19th district. A statue of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva (Quan The Am Bo Tat) was erected there, and the site was named the “Quan Am Garden.” During this period, Vietnamese monks from Vietnam, Europe, and the United States visited Hungary regularly to give Dharma talks, meet the community, and organize spiritual retreats.
Around 2012, the Thang Long Shopping Centre provided the association with a room to use, where a Buddha statue was placed. This location became the centre for Buddhist celebrations, and more and more people joined the community. In 2012, the venerable Thich Thien Bao, a member of the Central Council of the Vietnamese Buddhist Church, visited Hungary and encouraged the faithful to support the Vietnamese Buddhist community. More and more businesses and individuals began contributing to the plan of building a temple, and Vuu Quyy Duong, the owner of the Thang Long Shopping Centre, offered the second floor of the building for the future pagoda.
The third phase – From 2015 to the present:
Thanks to the support of the community, the construction of the temple began in 2014 and was completed by July 2015. It was named Tue Giac Pagoda and became the first Vietnamese Buddhist temple in Hungary.
In 2017, the community aimed to secure official legal status for the pagoda and therefore established the Vietnamese Buddhist Cultural Centre in Hungary (VINABUDH), a legally registered nonprofit religious organization with a tax number and legal personality.
In April 2019, Master Thich Thien Bao was officially appointed as the abbot of Tue Giac Pagoda by the Vietnamese Buddhist Church. That same year, at the initiative of the monks and VINABUDH, a young monk named Thich Thuong Tanh arrived in Hungary to learn the Hungarian language and pursue Buddhist university studies in Budapest. He is now a third-year student at the Dharma Gate Buddhist College and, under the assignment of Master Thich Thien Bao, leads the Tue Giac Pagoda.
At the end of 2020, at the initiative of the community, a fundraising campaign was launched to expand the pagoda and establish a community hall. Thanks to these developments, the usable area of the pagoda now exceeds 600 m².