Small Pagoda Shrine (or stupa),
A traditional stone stupa located in the gardens near the Peace Pagoda, featuring a double-roofed canopy and an inner shrine alcove housing a black granite tablet with gold calligraphy.
Inscription Translation:南無妙法蓮華經
Transliteration: Namu Myōhō Renge KyōTranslation: "I take refuge in the Mystic Law of the Lotus Sutra."This is the
primary sacred mantra of Nichiren Buddhism and the Nipponzan Myōhōji order, representing universal peace and devotion to the teachings of the Lotus Sutra.
Built by Hand with Local Help
While designed following traditional Japanese Buddhist temple architecture, the shrine and surrounding temple complex were built largely by hand by the monks and nuns of the Nipponzan Myōhōji order in the late 1970s.
Early Milton Keynes residents and volunteers actively joined in with the construction, using it as a community-building project for the growing new town.
Part of a Historic First in the West
The shrine stands next to the Willen Peace Pagoda, which was inaugurated in 1980.
It was the very first Peace Pagoda built in the Western Hemisphere. The order selected Willen Lake as their primary UK headquarters to spread their global message of non-violence and nuclear disarmament.