Jun Yasuda, a Japanese Buddhist Nun from the Nipponzan Myohoji order, has been a long time activist for Native Americans. She has walked across the country five times and spent days fasting on the steps of the New York State Capitol in support of Native Americans rights. During one of these fasts she was approached by Hank Hazelton. He offered her a parcel of land in Work began on the Grafton Peace Pagoda in October 1985 and was completed in the fall of 1993. The pagoda was built with donated funds, material and volunteers who contributed tens of thousands of hours.
A Peace Pagoda is a Buddhist stupa, which literally means “heap”. Originally a stupa was only a pile of rocks and mud to cover relics of Buddha. As they evolved they grew in size but the interior has always remained either solid or purposely not used. All activity takes place outside of the Peace Pagoda or in the temple that they are often near. The first Peace Pagoda was built in 1947 in Hanaokayama, Japan as a symbol of peace. Since then over 80 more Peace Pagoda’s have been built worldwide with two of the stupa style in the United States and a third one under construction in the Smoky Mountains.
PEACE PAGODA EVENTS:
The Flower Festival (in honor of Buddha’s birthday) – end of May/early June
Hiroshima Day (August 6th) – held during the week, usually on Friday
Peace Pagoda’s Anniversary – celebrated near Gandhi’s birthday (October 2nd)
PEACE PAGODA HOURS:
Open every day from sunrise to sunset.
Daily Prayer services twice a day, sunrise and sunset.
Everyone is welcome.
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