It is very good news that the Chinese Government doesn't stop the Monlam festival. I'm not surprised that the Government may even promote it for tourism purposes. Whatever the reason is, it's great that they allow this huge thangka to be displayed out in the open area. Everyone including animals, insects and spirits who sees the image of Manjushri will receive blessings and have the seeds of Enlightenment planted in their mind stream. It is very meritorious.
The following is an article from chinawhisper.com showing how the Chinese Government is building huge Buddha statues for secular reasons. Regardless, the Buddha statues still bless those who look at them and the surrounding environment as well.
China`s new buddha-building campagin
Posted on June 13, 2012 by Peter
Buddhism was introduced to China since the Han dynasty in the following thousands of years, it had experienced a number of rises and falls. In the last catastrophe of the Cultural Revolution, many religions such as Buddhism has been hit hard. In 1982, the central authorities issued a document and began to adjust to allow a variety of religious beliefs, government and religious field mutually respect each other and cooperate on the politics. Along with the decades-long surge of China’s economy in modern times, China has witnessed another rising trend, a Buddhism-building movement.
In ancient China, the process of building a giant Buddha needed a lot of hard work, only a few giant statues appeared in 1,000 years, but now building ??Buddha became an industrialized behavior mixed with political and commercial factors and far beyond the past in both speed and scale . Tian Tan Buddha, also known as the Big Buddha,a large bronze statue of a Buddha Amoghasiddhi, was completed in 1993, and located at Ngong Ping, Lantau Island, in Hong Kong. The Buddha is 34 metres tall, weighs 250 metric tons and was the world’s tallest outdoor bronze seated Buddha at that time.
But soon it was surpassed by another giant buddha statue named Lingshan Giant Buddha, It is located at the south of the Lingshan Mountain, near Mashan, town of Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China. It is one of the largest Buddha statues in China and also in the world. At more than 88 metres high, the Grand Buddha at Lingshan is a bronze Sakyamuni standing Buddha outdoor, weighing over 700 tons. It was completed in the end of 1996.
The picture shows in 2004, $ 360 million Yantai Nanshan Giant Buddha was completed, it is Sakyamuni statue, 38.66 meters high and weighs 380 tons, it was the world’s largest tin bronze seated Buddha.
2011, Another Giant Buddha located in Jilin Dun City was completed.the total cost is 380 million yuan, 48 meters high, it replaced the Yantai Nanshan Buddha, to become the world’s highest seated Buddha.
The Spring Temple Buddha (Lushan Giant Buddha) is a statue depicting Vairocana Buddha located in the Zhaocun township of Lushan County, Henan, China. At 128 m, which includes a 20 m lotus throne, it is the tallest statue in the world.The project as a whole was estimated to cost around $55m, $18m of which being spent on the statue.
In addition to metal material, some Buddha are made of special materials. In 1996, the world’s first statue of Gold and Jade Buddha Statue was completed, it is about 2.56 m heigh,1.5 m wide and weighs about 670 kg, the main materials include gold, platinum, emeralds, diamonds and precious stones,the statue was listed in Guinness Book of World Records at that time.
Anshan Jade Buddha is the largest jade Buddha statue in the world. It is located in a large temple complex of 22,104 square metres situated beside Dongshan Scenic Reserve in Anshan City in Liaoning province, China. The statue was sculpted from a piece of jade 7.95 meters high, 6.88 meters wide, 4.10 meters thick, weighing 260.76 tons.
Guanyin of the South Sea was built on the southeast shores of Putuoshan in bronze, limestone, marble and gold in 1998. The statue of Guanyin is 33 meters high and together with the supporting base. The total weight is 70 tons.
Lotus Mountain Guanyin statue is 40.88 meters high, made of 120 ton bronze and gilded with 9 kilograms gold. It is the highest gilded bronze Guanyin Statue in the world. The statue is facing to southeast, overlooking the Lion Sea. Therefore, people also call the statue “Guanyin overlooking the sea.”
The Nanhai Guanyin in Foshan city, Guangdong is 66 metres high made of bronze.
The 108 metre Guanyin, in Sanya, Hainan Province is the biggest statue in the world, which is 15 metres taller than the Statue of Liberty.
In 2009, the Ningxiang in Hunan invested 260 million Yuan to build the world’s largest 1, 000 armed, 1, 000 eyed Guanyin statue. The Weishan Guanyin is 99.19 meters high.
http://www.chinawhisper.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Golden-Statue-of-Puxian-on-Emei-Mountain.jpgGolden Statue of Puxian on Emei Mountain, in Sichuan province, was built in May 2006, t is 48 meters high. This 66-ton bronze likeness is endowed with 10 heads “to catch winds from 10 directions.”
