Wat Buddhananachat of Austin

Wat Buddhanannachat in Del Valle is uncontested for the title of the first Asian temple in the area. It was built on a farmhouse a few miles east of what is now the Austin Bergstrom International Airport. Until 1999, Bergstrom International Airport was Bergstrom Airforce Base. Many of the founding lay members of the temple are Thai women who married American servicemen stationed at the base. A sizable community of Thais, as well as Cambodians and Laosians, desired a center for traditional Buddhist practice as well as ceremonies such as weddings and funeral rites. So, in 1986, a farm site was purchased and arrangements were made with the Council of Thai Bikkus to have monks sent to Del Valle to found the Wat Buddhanannachat of Austin Temple. Since that time, the temple has grown from less than 20 families to nearly 500 families that support 8 monks.