Wat Buddharatanaram

Wat Buddharatanaram is a large (~20 acres) Dhammayut monastery on the outskirts of Dallas. Its centerpiece is an impressive Bodh Gaya-style chedi, inside of which is a memorial hall housing the viewable relics of nine Dhammayut monks said to have attained enlightenment in the last century. Among the relics are those of Luang Pu Sao, Luang Pu Mun, Luang Ta Mahā Bua, Luang Pu Lui, Luang Pu Khao, Luang Pu Juan, Luang Pu Tate, Luang Por Chob, and a last whose name escapes me. I believe that Wat Buddharatanaram is of the Luang Por Chob lineage.

A monk I know—borne of a Thai mother and an American father—took temporary ordination at Wat Buddharatanaram as a merit-making gesture for his mother. He never disrobed, and 16 years later he remains a monk in Texas.