A rare sculpture in the making

Dr. Nimal SEDERA

Sculpture of this kind had taken place

Only during the times of powerful kings.

This is the story of a humble Buddhist monk

undertaking a giant task

That will last for generations.

Very few people are fortunate in doing something to leave behind for generations to admire. The ancient pagodas in Anuradhapura and Gal Vihara in Polonnaruwa are few such places done by great people.

I write this article with great happiness as I happen to see some work of religious art that surely fall into the above category. One who has undertaken this great task that will last for many thousands of years is not a king nor a minister or a wealthy businessman, but a simple Buddhist monk who has only the courage and determination as his wealth.

A statue of Lord Buddha in the Samadhi posture 67 feet in height is being carved in one single granite rock at the Moneragala Vihara, Rambodagalla, Redeegama, Kurunegala. The news of this statue has already spread in the country by word of mouth and large numbers come in buses to see the miracle in process.

The chief incumbent of the vihara young Ven. Egodamulle Amaramoli Thera is the one who visualized the idea of this statue using the granite rock near the temple.

I was able to meet the monk and he was speaking quite openly and relaxed. "This statue when completed will be the tallest of this kind in Sri Lanka. The statue of the Lord Buddha will be on a lotus carved on the rock which will be twelve feet in height."

The monk added "It was difficult task to find a person who would do this kind of sculpture here in Sri Lanka. We then had to look for one in India. We found a very famous person by the name Mutthia Ishtapathy... He has never done a Buddha statue. His experience had always been with Hindu statues. He accepted the challenge with pleasure and arrived here with his own team of people."

"The work commenced on September 13, 2002 and the estimated cost is Rs. 35 million. Already 22.5 million has been spent and the progress of that spending is visible at the sight. The President's Fund donated 2.5 million and the Sri Lankan Army personnel donated two million. Minister Jeyaraj Fernnadopulle has helped us in many ways in this giant task. Eeswaran Brothers and DSI are two institutes that have come to our rescue."

Nirupama Rao former Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka is another respected personality that has visited this work site. She had admired this great work and her writing has been reproduced in the print media and displayed at the site office.

The monk was humble enough to relate a story pertaining to the commencement of this task. He added "the credit of beginning this work so soon should go to the schoolchildren from Rambodagalla Central College. These students who observed sil here for the Vesak Poya on 3rd May 2001 came to me after the days work and offered me some coins collected by them to the value of Rs 1358 and said that this money is towards the carving of the proposed sculpture... I was shocked to hear this. I felt that it was the right time for this project to begin... and I took off the following year. I will always remember the instigation made by those schoolchildren."

The places where such historic and lasting work had taken place have some particular great features in their surrounding. These great features are all embedded in this location and it reminds me of another Dambulla rock.

Generations to come will admire this as a religious venture and as a masterpiece of art. The nation must admire the courage of the monk who is the architect of this project.