The tallest statue at the moment is a 395 feet Buddha in Tokyo. The Maitreya project is already being hailed as the eighth wonder of the world. British designers have started work on the statue that will be supported by a 17-storey building in the shape of a throne.
The building will house a library, prayer and exhibition halls, galleries, theatres, schools and even a roof garden. A number of organisations are collaborating on this project, which is expected to be ready by 2005.
A spokesman for the project coordinator, the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, told the Daily Mail, “The Maitreya statue will be a colossal feat of modern engineering and the architectural, construction and maintenance challenges require the very latest skills in a variety of technologies.”
3-D technology, robotics, laser scanners and other hi-tech aids are being employed to design the statue. The project is being financed largely through donations from Buddhists all over the world. Project director Peter Kedge claimed that the statue would bring pilgrims and tourists in droves to Bodh Gaya and transform the region’s economy.
The statue will be set in a 40-acre estate in the city where Buddha is supposed to have attained enlightenment. “I don’t think anyone has witnessed a project like this before,” said Max Cole, a structural engineer with the contractors Mott MacDonald.
An executive for Delcam, the firm creating the digital model of the statue, said: “No one will ever attempt anything as big again. It will be the eighth wonder of the world.”