I've been coming to this temple since I was young, for almost 20 years now. It's a very peaceful and quiet place, and I always feel calm whenever I visit. If you would like to offer food to the monks, I recommend arriving around 10:30 AM, when the alms offering takes place. This temple has been a special place for me for many years, and I'm always happy to come back. read more

My family has been coming here for so long that the monks gave us all nicknames. This temple is very peaceful and a good place to unwind if you need to get away from the bustle of the city. They have a daily service from 10:30-noon for the community but you can request a short prayer service before or after depending on the monk's availability. If you're familiar with Thai Buddhist tradition and temple culture, people will bring a dish or more for the monks to bless and later partake in, offer up a blessing/alms for those who've passed, then everyone will pray together while the monks receive the offerings (basically eat lunch), then it's potluck time for visitors after. It's a very laid back temple, they do have classes for youngsters on the weekends, holiday events, can also host weddings and funeral prayer services. They have retreat style meditation and also have community fund raising events as well. Please be kind and respectful when visiting, help out when possible as there are no hired janitors, everyone pitches in to help when organizing the service and you will see the system if you look for it. P.S. No shoes are allowed in the praying/service rooms, available shoe shelves are right outside the doors before entering, the shoes should join the shoe community on the shelves...thanks. read more

Wat Padhammachart - Temple for meditation and praying - Buddhist Temples Near Me - La Puente, California

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Beautiful temple. Great Ceremonial events. Nice gardens. Willing to let anyone who would like to have a statue... read more

Wat Padhammachart - Buddhist Temples Near Me - La Puente, California

Had no idea there a temple here u til a friend brought me to this place. Felt i'm in touch with farm and natures. Friendly monks and staff, I don't speak Thai but we can communicate a bit. Plenty of shades, trees, things to admired for. They are preparing for Jan 1st new year celebration, so come and join them on Jan 1st to enjoy free food and fun. read more

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Visited this place many years, sometimes with friends and family, good place to visit relax and happy,Thai temple worship, weekends have class for kids , New Year and Thailan New Year there have served food for free , visiter just donated money up to you read more

Very nice temple , peaceful , beautiful , i been there very often , people are very nice & friendly

Beautiful temple, everyone is so helpful. I love it here, it's close by the house. There's even Thai school for the kids read more

Wat Padhammachart - Songkhan (Thai new year) - Buddhist Temples Near Me - La Puente, California

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As for Thai Buddhist Temples, this one rocks! Living in OC, this is way closer for my family to visit and pray. Wat Thai is simply too far away. Plus there isn't pressure to donate to the Wat Pa (temple) which pretty much wants me to donate more. I was recently there for Songkran (Thai New Year) celebrations. The volunteers, students and members of Wat Pa are truly wonderful. You can tell that they work really hard to show the community what Songkran is about. I also love how they have a mini stage for Thai cultural performances like traditional Thai dances and live music. It is very cute when the students perform on stage when traditional Thai clothing. For the Songkran celebration it was super crowded. There were lots of people who weren't Thai. I was little confused by that and I was a bit annoyed of people who decided to take advantage of the Songkran celebration by taking too many servings of food in cardboard box to take home. My mom was really annoyed about that especially and spoke up to a person who was doing that. You know what the volunteer said at the event who was serving out food, "Don't worry, we have lots of food here to share. It is okay." I was so surprised how pious the volunteer was. A part of me wishes I was like that. The best part of the Songkran celebration was I able to take my two toddler sons to pray in front of the big Buddha for the first time. Yes it was definitely brief but well worth it. Second best part was the raffle! With raffles at Wat Pa, they are the best and the most fun because everyone is a winner. I think most people should adapt to this raffle method. What they do is there are colorful pieces of paper hanging from strings with raffle #. Every piece of paper is $1. So our family bought like 30 tickets for fun. Plus, it feels good inside that all the proceeds go to the temple. Next, the raffle volunteer helps us cut off a hanging raffle number and we hand it to another volunteer to get it redeemed. We got bunch of random stuff like jelly sticks, rice snacks, kid's toys, picture frame, coloring book and a razor scooter. My advice, try visiting the temple when there isn't a major Thai holiday celebration like Songkran. The Thai temple area is very peaceful. There is even a koi fish pond filled with lots of fish that my son could not get enough of it. Also when my sons get older, I will definitely try to bring my kids here to learn Thai because there is a Thai Language school there. read more

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I came to this temple for the first time to celebrate Thai New Years (Songkran)!! Of all the Thai New Years festivals at all the temples this is the only temple that was giving out free food! It was wonderful, and I'm not talking about crappy generic food...everyone was volunteering and everything was authentic thai food. Most of the people there visiting for the festival was from around the world...not only just Thai people. It was nice to see non-Thai people experiencing and enjoying a part of Thai culture! Besides the wonderful free food. http://media2.ct.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/2R5ZFZaiji4mPUpgD0A4SA/l There were many blessing ceremonies and prayers going on inside the temple. My family joined in on a blessing ceremony and it was very well organized. I'm not a very religious person at all, growing up in a buddhist family, I only know the one basic prayer, but the whole experience made me feel like I should reconnect with buddhism. I would say this temple is great for people who are interested in Buddhism. Or if your just stressed and you want to unwind, it would be nice to just come here and sit and meditate. They are very welcoming and not so exploited like it is at Wat Thai. read more

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Watch out for Dollar, the temple dog. He bites :(

it's peaceful and calming to the soul.. I wish to go back as soon as i have time such a Humbling place

This temple is soo different from others.. whether you have something like food or money to offer or not, the monks will pray for you and bless you. This gets started around 9:30 to 10 am daily. I felt instantly welcome.The helpers there let you volunteer even if they dont know you well. I never felt like I was intruding. At other temples I felt like an unwelcome guest and pressured to join a membership I never even got a membership card for. : ( This temple deserves twice the money I paid at the other place and I will keep coming back until I pay that amount because they deserve it. The head Abbot is sweet, sincere, caring and dedicated. I love coming to see all the monks here and my fav Nun "Michi moo." She treated me like I mattered. Other places the venerable basically avoided me. Here... They have a live cam too! My favorite stars are the two huskies that get to roam freely and are just picture perfect. When your lonely at night the live web cam is a god send. They dont know what a blessing it has been in difficult times. I am concerned since I am not seeing the dogs at night anymore and its hard to get a hold of anyone on the phone. Those dogs are the star of the show!! so when I catch them trotting after the black cat that frequents the place or playing with the helpers, it gives me so much joy! They also have roosters and a huge peacock I finally got to see. The koi pond with turtles is also a blessing. I was able to release two red racer wter turtles in their pond and they were happy to let me do so! These turtles were neglected and every place I called rejected me.. Not here.. they were so loving and kind. If you come once and experience the love and kindness of the people, you'll be instantly addicted with tears of gratitude in your eyes. Namaste and god bless them. Live cam here!! http://watpala1.org/index.php/2018-02-13-16-58-26?mavikthumbnails_display_ratio=1.3499999046325684 You can watch each daily morning prayer around 9:30 to 11 am and meditate with them via web cam and also in the main chapel everyday between 6ish til 8. read more

It has been modernized considerably with a new and very beautiful Wat temple at the front and updated resident quarters in the back. A great way to get a local taste for Thailand spiritual culture. Consider visiting with someone who speaks Thai so that they can help you understand the customs. A little about me: I grew up blocks from this Wat and when I decided to study Buddhism this Wat became my home. The monks and nuns taught me abstracts way of viewing the world, meditation spirituality and ways of "letting go." I'm not sure if they still offer this and other forms of Thai teaching that at that time (1998) included learning Thai. A very hidden jewel of Los Angeles exotic culture! read more

The staff member I spoke with on the phone was rude. I called to ask if a group of us (40) people can visit the temple. We said we can park our bikes outside the temple grounds at the public park across the street and walk in to visit the grounds. We do our best to not disturb religious events so I called ahead of time about whether it's open to the public, etc. The person I talked to the the phone kept saying it's disturbing to have bicyclists go through the temple parking since there's a lot of people. (That's why I said explicitly we would leave all our bikes across the street at the park and walk in together. Then he said we might get a traffic ticket and he can't be responsible. Huh? Anyway, I would like to think it's just a language barrier or misunderstanding. We've biked to other places like the Hsi Lai Temple and Thien Hau Temple in El Monte as part of educational ride and did not run through such hostile response. read more

I came here today where my friend spent a week with the monks at this site. Both us are Buddhists, so we came to this site (we had just come from the Hsi Lai Temple). What a peaceful place a few blocks from industrial companies in the area. Ok, so there are crowing of the chickens/roosters throughout the place (not sure if they are on the premises of the temple), but the place is so green and tranquil. We came here towards closing time, so the temple was empty and not lit, but my friend who spent a week here for "enlightenment" and spirituality said that it is beautiful when it's fully lit up and people are bustling. This temple seems to be a modernized version of what I remember seeing in Thailand and their pagodas are scattered throughout the area so you can explore the grounds. I'll definitely try to remember to come here on Chinese New Years next week as well. read more

PEACEFUL: a great place to practice meditation.....especially during the weekdays. read more

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This place has beautiful energy.Very welcoming and I have a great feeling of balance while I'm there.The grounds are well kept and everyone is friendly.Im hoping to go there to give thanks and show respect to the Thai New Year. read more

This is a traditional Thai buddhist temple, with a few practices modified to the American geographical location. I came here with my Thai g/f for the Sunday service which starts at 10:30AM every week. We arrived 15 minutes early which was good since the parking lot was overflowing by 10:30. Most people that come for the Sunday service bring something to donate to the temple and gain 'merit'. We made a large pot of curry and put it in a container, and we gave that to one of the monks before the start of the service. Other visitors brought everyday essentials such as paper towels or bathroom tissue, and other brought salads, main dishes, desserts, packs of bottled water, or even flowers. If you visit, you can certainly bring something, donate cash for the upkeep of the temple, or nothing at all - there is no peer pressure, especially if you are non-Thai. At about 10:40, the 10 monks in residence walked around with their alms bowls and visitors each put a scoop of rice into the bowl. The rice is free and you will see ladies passing it out ahead of time for you to participate. Afterwords, everyone moves into the main area where the monks sit on a low platform and the food dishes are passed in front of each one. As the food is in front of the monks, they will take a small portion of each item and put it into their alms bowl to be eaten during the chanting portion of the service. It took about 20 minutes for all the dishes to be passed around the room which felt a bit long. You can certainly skip this part or step out a bit early if you choose. A monk gave a brief (5 minute) sermon in Thai afterwords, then a TV in the front came on for chanting while the monks ate. The Thai words were printed phonetically on the screen in front if you want to chant along while the monks eat (~15 minutes) and an English translation was on the screen, too. When this is over, everyone goes outside the eats the rest of the food! It's cutthroat getting food, so be polite but assertive if you want to sample all the homemade traditional foods people brought. It really felt like I was back in Thailand since there are very few non-Thais here for the Sunday service. I suggest bringing a Thai-speaking friend if you can since everything is done in Thai which might be a bit overwhelming if you can't follow along. The wat also has classes where you can live like a monk for up to 15 days, living in residence, and learning about Buddhism from the monks in residence and other practicing buddhists. Perhaps someday I'll try it out for a week! read more

I went to offer food for monks this morning. It made me feel so blessed because I haven't done this for few months since I came from Thailand. I'm buddhist and know that here is the PUREST Thai buddhism temple I've ever been to in the greater Los Angeles area. They reserve authentic tradition very well! read more

i love this temple, a little bit for me but so peaceful when i get there. my parent really enjoy meet new friend, great feeling really like you are in thailand.i am try to be back one a month. read more