Nan Hua Temple in South Africa

　　    Nan Hua Temple is situated within a cultural park on the outskirts of Bronkhorstspruit, Gauteng Province, South Africa, around 50 kilometers from Pretoria. Covering an area of 2.4 square kilometers, it is the largest Buddhist temple in Africa and also serves as the African headquarters of Fo Guang Shan.

　　    Dr. Hennie Senekal, the municipal administrator of Bronkhorstspruit and former church minister, once traveled to Taiwan to encourage local entrepreneurs to invest in his hometown and to establish ties with Taiwan’s Fo Guang Shan. In March 1992, Senekal donated six hectares of land to Fo Guang Shan for the construction of a Buddhist cultural and educational temple. Subsequently, the Fo Guang Shan Religious Affairs Committee dispatched Venerable Hui Li, then the head of the Engineering Supervision Division, to South Africa to open a new chapter in spreading Buddhism across the African continent. Construction of Nan Hua Temple began in 1992 and officially opened in 2005, with Most Venerable Hsin Pei, the seventh abbot of Fo Guang Shan (since 2005) and the 49th patriarch of the Linji school, personally attending the opening ceremony.

　　    Since the completion of the main temple structure, other facilities such as the Nan Hua Buddhist Temple Guesthouse, the African Buddhist Seminary, Nan Hua Village, and the Assembly Hall have been built successively. Using charitable assistance as a bridge, the temple has gradually built strong connections with various levels of South African society through donations of food, clothing, medicine, and even wheelchairs—step by step opening doors that were once closed, building good karma, and slowly integrating into the African landscape.

　　    Nan Hua Temple     Must-visit reason: The largest Buddhist temple in Africa     Continent: Africa     Country/Region: South Africa     Province/State: Gauteng Province     City: Bronkhorstspruit