No. 1499 - Invermay - Tibetan Buddhist Institute

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This is the second in a of a series of articles that explores Tasmanian places of worship other than Christian churches. These buildings include mosques; synagogues; temples and gurdwaras. At least seven 'non-Christian' religious denominations have purpose-built places of worship in the Tasmania.

According to the 2021 census Buddhists comprise about one percent of Tasmania’s population. There are a number of Buddhist centres across the State.

In the 1990s a Tibetan Buddhist Meditation group was established in Launceston. In the year 2000 the group acquired the former Uniting Church buildings located on Bryan Street, Invermay. The new facilities became the home of the Palpung Kagyu Thigsum Chokyi Ghatsal Tibetan Buddhist Institute. The centre is based on the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, a lineage of Buddhism where oral teachings are passed on from master to student. The institute provides meditation classes two times per week as well as daily Tibetan Buddhist prayer practice.

The Institute occupies and maintains a number of buildings on the Bryan Street site including the brick church which opened in 1892; the original Sunday school hall (1898) and a brick Sunday school build in 1929. [See No. 1277] In 2022 the institute launched a fundraising drive to raise $100 000 to replace the church’s roof.

The Centre occupies the former Uniting Church and Sunday school on Bryan Street. (Photograph: Duncan Grant)

Photograph: Duncan Grant

The church now houses a shrine and meditation space. www.palpungaustralia.org.au


Sources and Further Information:

https://www.palpungaustralia.org.au/

https://www.examiner.com.au/story/4788945/centre-offers-teachings-to-tasmanians/
https://www.examiner.com.au/story/7822562/buddhist-organisation-aims-to-raise-100k-by-2023/



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