The Pao Fa Buddhist Temple in Orange County, California

October 26, 2002

Source: Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/la-me-buddhist26oct26,0,5319580.story

On October 26, 2002 the Los Angeles Times reported on "the $5-million Pao Fa Buddhist Temple, Orange County's first mega-temple. It's 41,000 square feet of prayer halls, 8-ton jade Buddhas, classrooms, a library, dining hall and 42-room monastery. And this morning, after nearly five years of construction, an expected crowd of 3,000 will get the first public peek inside during an open ceremony that mixes elements of the East and West with the consecration of the Buddhas, recitation of sacred readings, and the singing of 'The Star Spangled Banner.' The Pao Fa temple is a significant addition to Orange County's religious landscape, another acknowledgment of the maturing of a diversity of faiths that in recent years has spawned plans for a new Roman Catholic cathedral, a large mosque and Muslim community center, a Mormon temple and a $65-million Jewish community center."