How cool would it be to visit and offer flowers to the World’s Tallest Samadhi Buddha statue? Uhuh, it’s not a dream but a reality if you are in Sri Lanka.
The Rambadagalla Samadhi Buddha statue (රම්බඩගල්ල සමාධි බුද්ධ පිළිමය) is the largest Samadhi Buddha statue which is at the small town of Rambadagalla in the Kurunegala area.
This statue actually has a very beautiful story behind it.
In the year 2001, the Taliban destroyed the site of Buddhas of Bamiyan using dynamite. On these days, a group of pilgrims had visited the Temple and a child of around 12 years had said, “Why don’t we destroy some mosques / churches against this?”. At this point, the Ven. Thero Egodamulle Amaramoli had preached, “listen child, Buddhism is not about going against religions but spreading the peace. Even if we destroy mosques and churches, will it bring back or form any statues? What our mission should be to craft more statues in situations like this. See, there are huge rocks around, go craft for statues on these…”
With this thought, people all around the country started bringing in donations to sculpt the world’s largest Samadhi Buddha statue. The chairman of Ishwaran Brothers, Colombo had come across this noble offering to the people / Buddhism and got directly involved with the temple to bring in the funds and the craftsmen.
Many Sinhalese engineers refused to aid to craft this statue because it was a task that could go for years. Though as Sri Lankans we are proud of our history and our ancestors and still brag on how the ancient temples and palaces are built. But, it’s a shame to say that none of the present day craftsmen were able to take part in this sculpture.
Craftsmen from India were brought to Sri Lanka to do this task. With the pioneering of Mr. D. Ishwaran, this statue was being crafted for over 12 years and 7 months. Donations were provided by thousands and people from all over the world were a part of this. Imagine crafting upon a rock and finishing up on a Samadhi Buddha Statue which is 67.5 feet in height!
This is by far the World’s Tallest Samadhi Buddha statueand even today, hundreds of people come to visit this place and offer flowers and donations.
Tourism and Development 