Situated within a forest in Perry now resides a wooden building with curved decorations on the roof and red steps and guardrails leading into the hall.

The building is now part of the state's only Buddhist forest monastery, dedicated to the teachings of Buddhism and meditation.

Up until several months ago, the roughly 400 members of the Dhammasala Forest Monastery, 14780 Beardslee Road, used the monks' residences to meditate and hold classes, but they will now have a new place to use as their main center of gathering.

"It's certainly the only traditional Thai style building in Michigan," Monastery Abbott Ajahn Khemasanto said.

The new meditation hall will be officially unveiled Saturday at a special grand opening that will feature Thai food and dancing.

The Thai consulate to the United States will be present as well as several monks from around the country.

A pole barn on the nearly 28 acres of forest has been redone in Thai style, which was constructed mostly by the monastery's three monks and countless volunteers. The 20-foot-by-40-foot building can hold 60 people comfortably and has chairs and cushions, although the monastery, founded in 2001, has a congregation of about 400.

Some of the art work in the $55,000 meditation hall, which was funded solely through donations, has been created by the monks; some was imported from Thailand.

Many members of the monastery said there has been a need for more space for some time, as the monks' living residences were too small for the growing number of members.

"One evening we put people in the living room and the basement," Lansing resident and monastery member Aloka Bagchi said. "We couldn't fit everyone in and we gradually realized we needed a bigger place.

"We're all excited about it. There's going to be lots of people and food and happiness. We usually go for the calm and quiet and learning, but we're excited about meeting everybody."

The monastery offers classes on Buddhism, how to speak Taiwanese and meditation. Khemasanto said the monastery serves people of all nationalities and is open to anyone who wants to come.

"Anybody can come, people who want to meditate, you don't have to be Buddhist," Khemasanto said.

"You can come and talk to people, It's a place for solitude."

Khemasanto, who lived in Thailand for 30 years before landing in Mid-Michigan in 1999, often delivers speeches and classes, and is one of the reasons why many monastery visitors say the Dhammasala is so rare.

Monastery visitor and Grand Rapids resident Chlorsuk Raab said Khemasanto is special because there are very few monks who speak English and teach Buddhist principles.

"I consider ourselves very fortunate to have him be here," Raab said.

"He uses very simple language so everyone can understand, that's his gift. Some teachers don't know how to relate the religious and philosophical teaching into plain English so that we can understand perfectly and quickly."

Some visitors say the amount of land the monastery sits on is what makes it unique.

"The surrounding of the monastery, the quietness and the serenity," Raab said.

"It's my most favorite place."