Faces of Vancouver: Thrangu Monastery in Richmond

The Thrangu Monastery on No. 5 Road in Richmond is the first Tibetan-style building to be built in Metro Vancouver. It is an offshoot of the 1,000-year-old Thrangu Tashi Choling Monastery, one of the most ancient centres for the study of Buddhist philosophy in Tibet. The parent monastery was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, but refugee monks built two substantial Thrangu monasteries in neighbouring Nepal and one in India. In 1982, the monks of the original Tibetan monastery were given permission to rebuild and the complex is currently being restored.

The moving force behind the Thrangu Monastery in Richmond is the Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, who was responsible for taking the tradition outside Tibet. He has been making increasingly regular visits to Vancouver. It is important to recognize that the Richmond monastery is being built with major support from Vancouver’s Chinese community, whose efforts have made the project possible.

The building is nearing the final phase of construction and hopefully will be open to the public within a year. Its golden rooftop pavilion already has changed the skyline of No. 5 Road, also known as the Highway to Heaven. The Vancouver area is becoming known for having the most diverse collection of temples and other religious buildings of any urban area in North America.

Douglas Aitken is the author of the book Three Faces of Vancouver. Every Monday, Faces of Vancouver looks at the area’s buildings, past and present, with a focus on Vancouver’s European, Asian, and First Nations cultures.