The temple will be fit for a king.

Area Thai Buddhists celebrated the town’s final blessing of their future home last week, smiling for the cameras before a model of the largest sanctuary of its kind outside of Thailand.

The 109,000-square-foot Theravada Buddhist temple and meditation center on South Street East will serve as a religious and cultural center and home to as many as 16 resident monks.

It will be topped with a 185-foot golden steeple.

“What a magnificent structure,” Zoning Appeals Board Chairman Robert Newton said before his board unanimously approved the spire’s height.

The plan fulfills the long-held dream of Boston-area Thai families to honor their monarch, King Rama IX, Bhumibhol Adulyadej, who was born in Cambridge in 1927.

Project advisor Richard Cook, …

When designing your own space for meditation or reflection, the most important thing to remember is you.
This is a place to rejuvenate your spirit, says interior designer Ronda Webb of the Design Studio of Gabberts. In your home, you’re not always decorating only for yourself, but making compromises for your husband, your kids, your guests.
“In your space, you should use things that you don’t get to have everywhere else,” Webb says.
Choose a comfortable mat, chair or pillow to help you relax. Clear out all the clutter and avoid having bills, paperwork or computers in view. Don’t have things you “don’t” like or that bring on potential stress in this space.
Other advice from designing experts:
When choosing paint, look for cool tones …