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Orissa to attract tourists with largest Buddha statue

M I Khan in Bhubaneswar

The Orissa government has decided to build the world's largest statute of the reclining Buddha, which will be part of the proposed Buddha Jayanti park in Bhubaneswar.

The statue is expected to give a fillip to the tourism potential of the state, according to Tourism Minister Bijayshree Routray.

The statue is part of Orissa's bid to attract tourists interested in Buddhism and places connected to its history. "Orissa has plenty of Buddhism-related sites, ranging from Dhauligiri to Lalitgiri and Ratnagiri, but they hardly attracts tourists. However, we are hoping that the statue will change all that," an official of the tourism department said.

The statue would be made with some special stone, like khandolite that was used to build the world famous Sun temple of Konark in the 13th century. It will be built using traditional construction techniques to give it that unique flavour. "A large number of master artisans and statue-makers from the state will be involved in the project," a senior tourism department official said.

To be built jointly by the state's Department of Tourism and the Bhubaneswar Development Authority, it is expected to cost Rs 10 million. National Aluminium Company, a blue chip public sector company, is likely to provide the funds. A source in NALCO hinted that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had personally requested the company to fund the project.

Patnaik is keen that the project materialises as soon as possible. Work would start by this year end, sources in the tourism department said.

At present, the world's largest and tallest Buddha statue is located in Bangkok, Thailand. Seventy-five feet high, it is made of brass.

The Buddha Jayanti park will have miniatures of all the important Buddhist landmarks in the country, including Bodh Gaya, Sarnath stupa and several other modern-day discoveries of Buddhist symbols. Around the Buddha's statue will be hundreds of his images in various poses, sources said.

"The Buddha statue is part of a larger package which the state government will promote to boost tourism," a senior official revealed. In the last one decade, the Archaeological Survey of India and other government agencies have discovered some rare Buddhist stupas and managed to trace the connection of Orissa with Buddhist history.

The state is eyeing tourists from Western countries and, particularly, from the Buddhist countries in South East Asia, like Japan, Thailand, Korea and China. "We definitely had tourists in mind when we planned the world's largest statue of Buddha," an official said.

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