Rakhaing Buddhist Welfare Association

Based in Cox's Bazar, we represent the Rakhaing community, descendants of the Arakan people whose state once ruled this part of Bangladesh for many centuries. At times the Arakan Kings held sway over the entire Chittagong area.

Many of our people fled Bangladesh to Burma during the Pakistani rule, which we thought harsh and prejudiced. Since the birth of Bangladesh, and brutal War of Liberation in 1971, we have worked to rebuild our community and the Buddhist temples and pagodas that our their hearts.

The temple shown here was abandoned in those times and is now surrounded by Muslim villages (who nether harm nor care for the temple). The nearest Buddhist villages are a few miles away and thus it is difficult for a monk to live here. Nonetheless, we hope to make enough repairs to use this beautiful temple for future retreats and meetings. We are in the process of raising funds and looking for a suitable monk to live here.

More recently, Islamic fundamentalists have destroyed Buddha images in the far south. We also hope to rebuild them.

For more information, please contact us at: Rakhaing Buddhist Welfare Association    

[sorry ... under construction]