Source: The Times-Picayune

On May 25, 2003 The Times-Picayune reported that "May 18 [marks] one of the holiest days of the year for Buddhists worldwide: the celebration of Buddha's Birthday, or Kinh Mung Phat Dan in Vietnamese... The congregation at the new Lien Hoa Buddhist temple in Terrytown [Louisiana] marked the holiday in traditional Vietnamese style, with an outdoor prayer service and luncheon. This is the 2,547th anniversary of Buddha's birth, said Son Tran, a member of the temple who served as a translator for the service... He was joined by half a dozen nuns and clergy. In prayerful pose, with hands clasped and shaved heads bowed, the monks' and nuns' traditional yellow robes almost glowed as a ray of sunshine temporarily broke through the clouds and beamed down on the stage and altar set up at the back of the temple's property on Stumpf Boulevard. The congregation purchased the property, which had at one time been a plant nursery, last fall."