Pagode Chua Tinh Tam, Buddhist temple in Sèvres, France
Pagode Chua Tinh Tam is a Chan Buddhist temple at 2 rue des Bois in Sèvres, Hauts-de-Seine. Its main building has three levels: a ground-floor worship hall with three gilded Buddha statues, a second-floor chapel to the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, and a stupa bell tower that holds a relic of the Buddha. A large golden reclining Buddha stands in the garden. The curved roof is covered in orange-brown glazed tiles edged in green and gold, with a wheel ornament on top and dragons at the ridge ends.
The sources document no founding date or construction history for the pagoda at 2 rue des Bois in Sèvres. They record only that it is a Chan (zen) Buddhist temple built with traditional techniques and exotic materials, including trees said to be 800 years old, and that the monk Thich Thien Dinh lives there.
The Vietnamese name Tinh Tam means "calm heart" or "peaceful heart"; the Chinese name 静心禅寺 means "Chan temple of the calm mind", since heart and mind share one word. Believers, mostly Vietnamese, gather on Sunday mornings. The facade panels read "CHUA", "PAGODE", "TINH", "TAM" beside Chinese characters.
The temple is open to visitors mainly on weekends, and guests should maintain respectful behavior during prayer times. Comfortable shoes are useful for walking through the different levels, and the site is accessible by public transportation from central Sèvres.
The temple was built with traditional techniques and exotic materials, among them trees 800 years old. A stupa tower containing a relic of the Buddha rises above Sèvres, and a large golden reclining Buddha stands in the garden. The resident monk is Thich Thien Dinh.
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