Located in a turreted Victorian house and officially opened on Vesak, May 1975, Wat Buddharangsee in Stanmore was the first Thai Buddhist monastery in Australia.¹ Wat Buddharangsee’s first Abbot was Laotian-born monk Phra Mahamasai (Chao Khun Samai) who worked and taught alongside English-born monk Phra Khantipalo.² In collaboration with the Buddhist Society of New South Wales, both had been sent to Australia by the Mahamakut Foundation in Thailand in 1974.³ 

As the only temple in Sydney at the time hosting monks, Wat Buddharangsee soon became a vital hub for Asian Australian Buddhist communities, including Thai, Lao, Cambodian, and Burmese refugees, as well as the growing numbers of interested Anglo-Australian Buddhists.⁴ Phra Mahamasai has been credited with having a rare skill in transcending ethnic divisions, and Phra Khantipalo’s ability to introduce Buddhist ideas to new audiences has been lauded. By the early 1980s Buddharangsee had become the focal point for Buddhism in Sydney.⁵ It continues to operate from the same house in Stanmore today. 

By the early 1980s it was clear that an additional larger monastery in a more rural setting was required to cater to the growing Buddhist community. In 1985 the Mahamakut Foundation purchased five acres in Leumeah, Southwest Sydney and in May 1988, Wat Pa Buddharangsee Buddhist Forest Monastery was officially opened.⁶ In January 1998 another inner-city temple, Wat Buddharangsee in Annandale, Sydney was also established to cater to the growing Buddhist communities. 

By: Ruth Fitzpatrick and Anna Halafoff 

References:

¹ Khantipalo, Noble friendship: Travels of a Buddhist monk (Windhorse Publications, 2002), 169; Paul Croucher, Buddhism in Australia 1848–1988 (New South Wales University Press, 1989), 90; B. Johnson, “The opening of Wat Buddharangsee,” Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Newsletter, no. 11 (March 1983), https://www.bdcu.org.au/bdcu-newsletters-archive/NEWSL_11.pdf. 

² “Monks,” Wat Pa Buddharangsee, accessed August 27, 2026, https://mahamakut.org.au/monks.html; Phra Rajsilaporn (Phra Maha Samai), “Buddhist Life Stories of Australia | Phra Rajsilaporn,” conducted by Deakin University, interview, 2015, posted May 11, 2026, by Nan Tien Institute, YouTube, 31 min, 34 sec., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP3kNmSCLdA; Andrew Allen, host, “Only in Campbelltown: Wat Pa Buddharangsee,” Campbelltown City Council, accessed August 27, 2026, https://www.campbelltown.nsw.gov.au/About-Campbelltown/History/Campbelltown-2020/Only-In-Campbelltown/Wat-Pa-Buddharangsee-Temple. 

³ Croucher, Buddhism in Australia, 77–78. 

⁴ Phra Rajsilaporn, “Interview.” 

⁵ Croucher, Buddhism in Australia, 99; Phra Rajsilaporn, “Interview.” 

⁶ Allen, “Only in Campbelltown”; “History of Mahamakut Foundation,” Wat Pa Buddharangsee, accessed August 27, 2026, https://mahamakut.org.au/history.html.