Biggest Czech Buddhist Centre Being Built in Prague

The biggest Buddhist centre in the Czech Republic is being built in a former factory in the Holesovice district in Prague.

The reconstructed building will host a meditation room for 250 people and exhibition space and there will be courses and lectures on Buddhism. The Gompa Praha will be opened to the general public by the end of the year, the project costing 28 million Koruna, about £636 000.

"Buddhists from across the country as well as from abroad were collecting the money for ten years," said organiser Jan Matuska.

The centre will be used by followers of Diamond Way Buddhism which has some 2,000 supporters in the Czech Republic. Diamond Way Buddhism is a lay organization within the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism.

At present, the biggest Czech Buddhist centre is in Brno, the country's second largest city. Across the Czech Republic, there are some 50 Buddhist meditation places.

Diamond Way was officially registered in the Czech Republic in 2007 and is the only official  Buddhist organisation in the country.