SIKKIM: Buddha statue to wait another year
Posted by barunroy on August 6, 2009

FROM THE STATESMAN


GANGTOK, 5 AUG: Work to set up the 90 ft tall Buddha statue at Rabong in South Sikkim would take a year more. Architects and sculptors continue to toil to complete the statue at Sangkhola near Singtam. The proposed 125 ft statue of Sangay Chomden Dey (Lord Buddha in Sikkim) in a sitting position would be the tallest Buddha statue in the world.

Twenty workers (eight from Jaigoan in West Bengal and 12 from Kathmandu, Nepal) have been working for over 12 hours daily on the project for the past two years.

Mr Krishna Khati, a metal worker at the work site in Sangkhola said that the nickel-aluminum bronze alloy statue with steel frame inside would weigh over 57 tonnes.

After completion, the structure would be dismantled into pieces and transferred to Rabong, the site for the statue.

The Sakyamuni project started in 2006 to mark the 2550th birth anniversary of Lord Buddha. The project covering an area of 22.5 acres would have an eco-garden and other tourist amenities along with the giant statue.
Interestingly, relics of Lord Buddha would be offered to the statue to enhance its significance and add Rabong to the Buddhist religious circuit in India. Last November, relics of Lord Buddha were collected from across eight Southeast Asian countries for the project. Somdet Phra Nyanasaamvara, the 19th supreme patriarch of the Buddhist order in Thailand had offered the relics. Besides, Thailand, Myanmar, Japan, South Korea, Cambodia, Laos, Taiwan and Vietnam have also offered relics. Those are under tight security at the newly built Karma Thekchenling Monastery.