Visitors to New England peace pagoda increase

LEVERETT, Mass. -- Only the tinkle of wind chimes and the answering call of a chickadee break the stillness of an autumn morning as the sun sparkles on the blazing white dome of the New England peace pagoda.

The 100-foot-high, lotus-shaped shrine, built by an order of Japanese Buddhists, has been described as a dollop of whipped cream perched on the isolated hilltop in this western Massachusetts town. For the past 15 years it has been an island of serenity and respite in an all-too-often troubled world.

"I'm so glad we stopped," says Nancy Roy of Harwich, the sun glinting on the American flag pin that she has worn since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. "I could just hang out here for hours.

"It has such an atmosphere with the blue, blue sky and white dome," Roy says. "It's as if negative feelings just sink and disappear and the mountains envelop you."

The shrine, or stupa, completed in 1986, was the 71st built by the monks of Nipponzan Myohoji, and the first in North America. Today, more than 80 similar shrines have been erected around the world, including one in the town of Grafton near Albany, N.Y.

Another of the shrines, which the monks say represent physical prayers for universal peace, has been proposed for Tennessee.

Many people have been drawn to the peace pagoda since Sept. 11.

"We've been getting more visitors," says Toby Keyes, one of the Buddhists. "People are choosing a chance to reflect."

The sealed shrine is a stark white concrete-and-steel bubble dome that complements the square lines of the little white New England churches in the valley below. The curve of the dome is broken by four niches that hold statues of Buddha, carved by Sri Lankan artisans. It's topped with an ornate spire of glistening twisted bronze.

Rough New England winters have pealed some of the paint, but the gilded images and the spire still echo the gold of the surrounding maples.

The monks have added a peaceful reflecting pool and garden. A rock garden is built around a concrete slab and charred arch, all that remain of the original wooden temple, which burned a few weeks after it was completed in 1987.