India to commission statue of The Buddha

The Indian High Commission in a press release says: On the auspicious occasion of Unduvap Poya and as per agreed in the Joint Declaration issued during the State visit of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Indian High Commission would like to announce that the Indian Government has commissioned a 16 foot high statue of The Buddha in the Sarnath style from the Gupta period which is proposed to be installed at the entrance of the International Buddhist Museum complex at Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy. An agreement to this effect has been signed between the Indian External Affairs Ministry and Ms Icons India, for the preparation of the statue. Diyawadana Nilame of the Sri Dalada Maligawa Pradeep Nilanga Dela Bandara has welcomed the proposal to install the Sarnath Buddha statue at the Museum in Kandy.

The Sarnath Buddha statue is an exquisite sculpture based on the famous 5th century Gupta period statue from Sarnath, where The Buddha preached His first sermon after attaining enlightenment. The statue in the Dharmachakra pravartana mudra (turning the wheel of law) and its pedestal will be carved out of a single piece of beige-coloured Chunar sandstone.

Other activities forming part of the joint commemoration of the Sambuddhatva Jayanthi include the establishment of an Indian Gallery at the International Buddhist Museum and the organization of an International Buddhist Conference. An expert appointed by the National Museum of India is working on putting together Indian Buddhist artefacts that portray the Buddhist art, culture and heritage of India in its entirety.

The process of identifying the important statues/artefacts related to Buddhism in India has started and the fabrication of replicas is being undertaken. An International Buddhist Conference will also be organized in Kandy early next year (before end of March) with the support of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR).