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RESPONSE
Subsequently, I also read reports that the site of the statue had been shifted from Bihar to Uttar Pradesh due to the lukewarm response of the Government of Bihar. In the article "Maitreya: Symbol of Universal Love" (May 5) by Inderpal Singh and Minakshi I read that the proposed statue is of Maitreya and not Lord Buddha. The proposed monument will be a 50-storey-tall statue of Maitreya, who according to Buddhist belief, will appear as the next Buddha and will provide spiritual guidance to humanity. I have all the respect
and regard for the late Thubten Yeshe and Lama Zope Rinpoche, the
spiritual director of the Maitreya Project, but my scientific
temperament forbids me to accept the proposed statue of someone who has
not yet been born. The proposed statue can only be the imagination of
some artist. |
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Until the envisaged statue was of Lord Buddha, I had all the admiration for the work being done by the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT). But after reading this article, my views have changed and I am afraid I cannot accept the fact that the proposed statue is that of a soul who is yet to be born. I have been working on a full-size statue depicting Lord Buddha at the time when he received divine light and was transformed from Siddharatha to Buddha. The specific word used in the Mahayana tradition of that particular stage is Sakyamuni. The enclosed photograph is that made by an artist who has spent considerable time and money on research and the model has been cast in fiberglass. The same was exhibited in the India International Trade Fair-2001, at Pragati Maidan from November 17 to 27, 2001. The final cast in bronze is being done
at an undisclosed place. The actual statue will be available by end of
this year. According to a conservative estimate the material cost of
this life-size bronze statue is about Rs 3.6 lacs. |
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A
long time back I had read about the statue of Lord Buddha which was
proposed to come up at a suitable site in Bihar. From the Press reports
I had also gathered that it was going to be the highest statue anywhere
in the world and its height would be about 150 metres.