Rambodagalla Buddha Statue - near Ridigama
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The modern Rambodagalla Buddha statue in Kurunegala District is said to be the largest rock carved Samadhi Buddha statue in the world. Currently, the tallest Buddha statue is in China, it's the Henan Foquan Temple Buddha, measuring 208m in height. There are several other Buddhist sculptures - ancient and modern - that are taller or larger than the Rambodagalla Buddha, but none of them depicts the historical Buddha Shakyamuni in the classical Samadhi Mudra, the gesture of meditation. And only few large Buddha statues are made of granite. The statue is sculptured at the upper end of an 200 m long artificial depression, that had to be cut into the natural rock. So in more than one respect Sri Lanka's Rambodagalla Statue is really extraordinary.
The Rambodagalla Buddha statue measures 20.5 m (67.5 feet) in height. It's named after the Rambodagalla Monaragala Viharaya where it was cut from the rock. The temple has a car park, the statue is in only a few hundred meters distance slightly further uphill. The Rambodagalla temple is located in the village of the same name. However, sometimes, the name is transcribed "Rambadagalla".
The Rambodagalla temple is situated 4.5 km (2 miles) south of Ridigama and 20 km (12.5 miles) east of Kurunegala by road. The driving distances from Kandy and Colombo and are 37 km (23 miles) and 112 km (70 miles) respectively.
In a way, the construction of the Rambodagalla statue is Sri Lanka's response to the destruction of Afghanistan's famous Bamiyan Buddha statues, that were blasted by iconoclastic fanatics in March 2001. So the story goes: After hearing the sad news from Afghanistan, a village boy, who attended the Dhamma School in the Rambodagalla temple, rushed to Chief Incumbent, Ven. Egodamulle Amaramoli Thera. The Bikkhu advised his student to make a till-box to collect money for building a new Buddha statue. The idea was soon gathering momentum and found several sponsors. Hearing that a group of Indian sculptors had just completed work at Ramboda, the Thera contacted Colombo businessman D. Easwaren who enlisted the help of architect R. Sivaram to produce a blueprint. Among others, the former Indian High Commissioner Nirupama Rao, after visiting the project, initiated a 2.5 million Rupees donation from the Indian High Commission. India also provided the skillful and experienced sculptor from Chennai to hew out the colossal but richly detailed statue from the granite rock. The new giant Buddha statue of Rambodagalla was finalised already in 2013 and officially opened to the public on the 30th April 2015 by then president Maitreepala Sirisena.
The Buddha faces east, welcoming the rising sun. Also the pool in front of the statue is cut from the rock.
The Rambodagalla Buddha statue measures 20.5 m (67.5 feet) in height. It's named after the Rambodagalla Monaragala Viharaya where it was cut from the rock. The temple has a car park, the statue is in only a few hundred meters distance slightly further uphill. The Rambodagalla temple is located in the village of the same name. However, sometimes, the name is transcribed "Rambadagalla".
The Rambodagalla temple is situated 4.5 km (2 miles) south of Ridigama and 20 km (12.5 miles) east of Kurunegala by road. The driving distances from Kandy and Colombo and are 37 km (23 miles) and 112 km (70 miles) respectively.
In a way, the construction of the Rambodagalla statue is Sri Lanka's response to the destruction of Afghanistan's famous Bamiyan Buddha statues, that were blasted by iconoclastic fanatics in March 2001. So the story goes: After hearing the sad news from Afghanistan, a village boy, who attended the Dhamma School in the Rambodagalla temple, rushed to Chief Incumbent, Ven. Egodamulle Amaramoli Thera. The Bikkhu advised his student to make a till-box to collect money for building a new Buddha statue. The idea was soon gathering momentum and found several sponsors. Hearing that a group of Indian sculptors had just completed work at Ramboda, the Thera contacted Colombo businessman D. Easwaren who enlisted the help of architect R. Sivaram to produce a blueprint. Among others, the former Indian High Commissioner Nirupama Rao, after visiting the project, initiated a 2.5 million Rupees donation from the Indian High Commission. India also provided the skillful and experienced sculptor from Chennai to hew out the colossal but richly detailed statue from the granite rock. The new giant Buddha statue of Rambodagalla was finalised already in 2013 and officially opened to the public on the 30th April 2015 by then president Maitreepala Sirisena.
The Buddha faces east, welcoming the rising sun. Also the pool in front of the statue is cut from the rock.
