The Quan Am statue towers over the Vietnam Buddhist Center in Sugar Land with a sense of peace and tranquility. As one of the tallest statues in America, she looks over a pond and garden with an ornate red bridge symbolizing the path to enlightenment.
Quan Am is one of the highly revered bodhisattvas, or one who seeks awakening, and is known in Vietnamese Buddhism as the goddess of compassion or mercy. She is believed to have delayed her own nirvana to help others achieve theirs.
The mission of the center is to teach successive generations of Houston’s Vietnamese community – America’s second largest behind Los Angeles – and visitors about Vietnamese culture and language.
The center also has a charitable arm that embodies the Buddhist principle of compassion through social service with scholarships, refugee and disaster relief, and local assistance services.
The cast concrete statue created by sculptor Mai Chi Kim stands 72 feet tall, and is currently the eighth-tallest statue in the U.S. Quan Am in her flowing robes and benevolent smile is a lovely piece of art overlooking a tranquil water garden. It’s a nice place to slow down for a few moments and appreciate the serenity of the colorful koi in the water.
The Vietnam Buddhist Center is at 10002 Synott Rd. in Sugar Land. The garden is typically open from 6am to 9pm and the Meditation Hall is open from 9am to 5pm. The public is welcome to visit the Meditation Hall at the center. To schedule a guided tour, call 281/575-0910. Everyone is invited to the Quan Am Festival in March and the Lunar New Year in February 2026. Next door to the center at the Sri Ashtalakshmi Temple, 10098 Synott Rd., is the Statue of Union, a 90-foot statue of the Hindu god Hanuman. It is the third-tallest statue in the U.S.
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This article appears in June 20 • 2025.