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When the old buildings had been
removed the area was prepared for a ground-breaking ceremony. A decorated sand mandala was
laid out by members of the community with the middle of the proposed temple floor as its
centre. The ground was broken at this spot by the Assistant Thai Ambassador and the Sri
Lankan High Commissioner. A casket, containing rocks that Ajahn Sumedho had collected from
all over the world, along with precious items donated by many people, was interred. Luang Por Panyananda led the gathering in blessing the ground and future Temple site. Part of the Temple concept was to designate it as a suitable place for the formal acceptance of candidates into the Sangha as monks or nuns. This required the marking out of a sima - a consecrated boundary, determined by marker stones - within which these ceremonies could take place. The stones were carved by Ken and Jenny Grant in Newcastle using local raw material. |
| With the ground suitably blessed these stones were carried by family camp dads and placed on the edge of eight previously prepared holes - no easy feat. The area within the sima was divided into sections, each of which was ceremonially consecrated and formally declared part of this sima. |
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