Gala ceremony to convey Maravijaya Buddha Image onto jewelled throne

 

A gala ceremony to convey the Maravijaya Buddha image being carved for public obeisance in Buddha Park onto a jewelled throne took place in the precinct of Buddha Park in Dekkhinathiri Township of Nay Pyi Taw Union Territory yesterday morning.

Also present at the ceremony were members of the Sangha led by Chairman of the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee Mandalay’s Bhamo Monastery Abbot Abhidhaja Maha Rattha Guru Abhidhaja Agga Maha Saddhamma Jotika Dr Bhaddanta KumaraBhivamsa and Chancellor of Sitagu International Buddhist Academies Abhidhaja Maha Rattha Guru Abhidhaja Agga Maha Saddhamma Jotika Maha Dhamma Kathika Bahujanahitadhara Shwegyin Nikaya Chairman Shwegyin Sangharaja Sitagu Sayadaw Dr Bhaddanta Nyanissara, State Administration Council Chairman Prime Minister Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and wife Daw Kyu Kyu Hla, Vice-Chairman Deputy Prime Minister Vice-Senior General Soe Win and wife Daw Than Than Nwe, the council secretary, the joint secretary, council members and their wives, Union Ministers, the chairman of Nay Pyi Taw Council, senior military officers from the Office of the Commander-in-Chief and their wives, the commander of Nay Pyi Taw Command and guests.

Leading donor the Senior General and party led by members of the Sangha sprinkled scented water on the jewelled throne, the steel shelf for the jewelled throne, the steel flower basket in which the Buddha image is kept and four steel cranes which will lift the Buddha image.

The Senior General pressed the button to convey the Maravijaya Buddha image onto the jewelled throne with the use of heavy machinery.

The throne is 18 feet high, 72 feet long and 54 feet wide, and the Buddha image combined with parts 1, 2 and 3 weighed 1,700 tonnes in total. It was reported that conveying the image onto the jewelled throne needs to take 72 hours.

At the briefing hall, the Senior General and party sought words of advice from members of the Sangha led by the Bhamo Sayadaw and the Sitagu Sayadaw on carving the Buddha image, constructing religious edifices in the Buddha park, and arranging to print Pitaka treatises in Pali and Romanized languages. They viewed round progress in the construction of the Park, and the Senior General supplicated the facts that Sayadaws wanted to know and sought words of advice.

The Maravijaya Buddha image was carved with four objectives to show the firm flourishing of Theravada Buddhism of Myanmar to the world, to ensure peace and stability of the State, to develop the region with visits of local and international travellers to the Buddha image and contribute to the development of the State. The marble rock was checked with X-ray in 2018 to know its measurement, mass and faults in assessing the situation of how to carve the height of the image and carving the throne. Then, the marble rock was carried from Sagyin Hill in Madaya Township to Sameikkhon jetty in shipping. Afterwards, it was conveyed to Nay Pyi Taw by modular trailer along the Mandalay-Yangon expressway amid difficulties. On arrival at Nay Pyi Taw, the marble rock was carved by experts with the use of CNC machines and modern machinery.

For the time being, construction tasks are being carried out for a Sasana Beikman to accommodate 1,200 members of the Sangha and congregation at religious ceremonies and other religious edifices in the Buddha Park. In accord with the guidance of venerable Sayadaws, Pitakat treatises in line with the version adopted by the Sixth Buddhist Synod are being carved on the marble plaques in Pali and Romanized languages with the use of modern machinery in order to keep the stone plaques. The already-carved inscriptions on Tri Pitakat, Atthakahta and Tika treatises were posted in front of the Buddha image. Arrangements are being made for pilgrims to view the Atthakahta and Tika treatises of the Tri Pitakat treatises in the stone inscription chamber. Moreover, a plan is underway to print the Pitakat treatises in Pali and Romanized languages to be distributed to monasteries across the world. The ceremony to enshrine religious objects into the reliquary in the centre of the jewelled throne of the Buddha image will be held at 8 am on 27 January.

MNA/TTA

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