Back to the Big Buddha

Posted under Deja vu Asia 2010

Took another trip up to the Big Buddha. This would be the third such trip, as we have visited the site each year that we have visited this area. The Buddha was begun about ten years ago and is constructed from concrete, all 150 feet of it. After shaping the statue, the surface was inlaid with white marble tiles, which were again shaped and smoothed to give it’s present surface. The scaffolding that is presently erected around the head portion of the statue is to enable the workers to do the fine finishing touches. In this instance it was to install the eyes of the Buddha. The pupils were ground and shaped from serpentine rock from Burma, and the whites of the eyes are shaped from mother of pearl. It remains but to install the marble tiles on the lotus pedals, where the Buddha sits, and the  statue proper will be completed, but the job far from over. Construction now begins upon the retaining wall and temple buildings. Now it is not that the workers are so desperately slow, but as the construction was done through donation and the sale of the marble tiles. So finance had a very big part in the building.

Now i am a bit uncertain if possibly the Thai peoples are hoping to construct an edifice which may last thousand of years. The Cambodians have Anchor Wat which has stood the test of time, the Chinese have the Great wall, and now the Thai have the Giant Buddha. Little do they realize that they still have their mattresses, which I am certain will last a thousand years. All those coil springs which they managed to scrounge from General Motors after the production of the autos of the 60’s, went into the production of mattresses. The beds that we slept upon three years ago are every bit as firm today as they were then. I believe that had general motors engineered the rest of the car to last as long as the coil springs, they would not now be owned by the US taxpayer. But back to the Buddha! You can see the square shaped marble tiles on the bee hive shaped items in the picture, both in the rough installation and then again once they have been ground and shaped. These “bee hives” are actually part of the hair styling of the Buddha, where hundreds of these adorn the head. It gives you a bit of the picture of just how much labor has gone into the construction.

Interesting to note that the scaffolding is comprised of bamboo sticks, tied together with chunks of old rope. The workers scurry about this rather flimsy looking structure, with no apparent worries. No thank you very much!

Our next stretch appears to be Bali. Don’t know how the internet will be, but I will try to keep in touch, and the blog updated. And oh yes, you will note the addition of some photos to the blog. Grand daughter, Brooklyn, tried to teach me how to do this last year, but having the mental retention of a chicken, by the time I tried it, it didn’t work. Took another lesson this year from son (Troy), and voila. Not yet perfect, but getting there.

Best to all

T