The giant Buddha statue, installed in the Zen Buddhist monastery of Ibirasu in the north of the Brazilian state of Espiritu Santo, has become the second largest in the world, behind the Leshan Buddha in China. This was announced on Sunday, August 29, by the Remonews portal.
The structure of metal and concrete weighs 350 tons and reaches a height of 35 meters, you can visit it free of charge at any time of the day.
The statue is also larger than the sculpture of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, which is 30 meters high without a pedestal.
In December 2020, the statue was spiritually baptized in accordance with the foundations of Buddhism. The ceremony is called “opening the eyes” and gives the monument “soul”.
The statue on the banks of BR-101 has become a tourist attraction in the state even before its official opening and attracts the attention of those who drive along the highway. According to the monastery, the monument receives about 4,000 visitors over the weekend.
Work on the statue was completed in 2020 and was scheduled to open in June of that year. But due to the delay in work and the Covid-19 pandemic, the monastery decided to postpone the event until April 2021. After a second postponement, the opening took place last Saturday.
The world’s tallest statue was unveiled in India in 2018. The monument to the leader of the national liberation movement Villabhai Patel reaches 182 m, it was created by the famous Indian sculptor Ram Wanji Sutar.
