The new giant sitting Buddha is scheduled to be consecrated on August 1
Published Date – 23rd Sat 22 Jul 06:00 AM
Bangkok: The military-controlled government of conflict-torn Myanmar on Friday unveiled a new giant statue of a seated Buddha scheduled to consecrate on Aug. 1, a potent symbol of nationalism in a deeply devout country.
Journalists previewed the 228-acre (92-hectare) ruins in the capital, Nay Pyi Taw, which include small pagodas, ordination halls, rest rooms, fountains, lakes and parks.
General Min Aung Hlaing, head of the junta and the project’s patron, has overseen the installation of various parts of the project, even as civil war has broken out, killing thousands, displacing millions and causing extensive damage, including to Buddhist monasteries, Christian churches and Islamic mosques.
State media has repeatedly quoted Min Aung Hlaing as saying it would be the world’s tallest marble seated Buddha, but that claim has been difficult to verify.
He also said that the purpose of building the Buddha statue is to “show the prosperity of Theravada Buddhism in Myanmar, make Myanmar the focus of Theravada Buddhism, ensure the prosperity of the country, and contribute to world peace and stability.”
The army’s onslaught, especially in rural areas, including burning down villages and driving out residents, has made efforts to win popular support urgent but also difficult.
In Buddhist-majority Myanmar, the construction of giant Buddha statues is common.
Generals, who saw themselves as protectors and patrons of Buddhism, stepped up building stupas and paying tribute to venerable monks, believing it would bring them religious merit and popular support.
It also helps cement longstanding alliances with right-wing monks who share ultra-nationalist views and have their own followers who can be mobilized for political action.
In 2009, under the former military junta, then-junta ruler General Than Shwe consecrated the Upata Santi Pagoda, a replica of Nay Pyi Taw’s famous Shwedagon Pagoda in the country’s largest city, Yangon. In 2001, he also built an 11.5-meter-high marble seated Buddha statue in Yangon.
General-turned-President Thein Sein, who leads a semi-democratic government backed by the military, built a 9.7-meter-high standing marble Buddha in Nay Pyi Taw in 2015.
The new seated Buddha, including the throne, is about 24.7 meters tall and weighs more than 5,000 tons, according to state media. It is carved in the traditional cultural style of the 18th-19th century Yadanabon dynasty, the last dynasty before the country was colonized by the British.
Reporting on the project’s progress to officials and big business backers last month, Min Aung Hlaing revealed that the plan to build the statue stemmed from Than Shwe’s handing over to the military in 2017 a large rough marble stone given to him by a mining company.
