THE LARGEST SLEEPING BUDDHA STATUE INDONESIA, MOJOKERTO

The largest sleeping Buddha statue in Indonesia is always crowded with visitors every weekend. The statue depicting the moments of the death of Gautama Buddha is 29 years old. The foundation is decorated with reliefs with various interesting stories. The giant sleeping Buddha statue is inside the Mojopahit Maha Vihara in Bejijong Village, Trowulan, Mojopahit. That is to the south of the Sasono Bhakti building which is a place of worship for Buddhists. Pandita Maha Vihara Mojopahit, Sariyono said, the history of the construction of the sleeping Buddha statue cannot be separated from the construction of the Maha Vihara Mojopahit. Both were initiated by Bhikkhu Viriyanadi Maha Tera. It's just that the monastery was built first. According to him, Maha Vihara Mojopahit was built in 1987, then was inaugurated by the Governor of East Java, Soelarso on December 31, 1989. Meanwhile, the sleeping Buddha statue was built in 1993 involving sculptors from Solo, Central Java, as well as sculptors from Bejijong Village and Trowulan Village/District. "Until 1998 the sleeping Buddha statue had no color, it was still the color of cement. The first painting was in 1999. So far, the sleeping Buddha statue at Maha Vihara Mojopahit has been painted in gold. According to Sariyono, gold is the most beautiful color chosen to honor Gautama Buddha. "In 2001, he received an award from MURI (Indonesian World Record Museum) as the largest sleeping Buddha statue in Indonesia with a length of 22 meters, a width of 6 meters and a height of 4.5 meters," he explained. This giant statue which is one of the favorite tourist destinations in Trowulan is also called the Maha Paranibbana Buddha Statue. That describes the moments of the death of Gautama Buddha. The Buddha died in a position like sleeping on his right side with his right palm supporting his head. "Why did he die like that? Because everyday he rested like this," said Sariyono. Gautama Buddha was born with the name Siddhartha Gautama in Lumbini Park, Kapilavastu City, India in 623 BC (BC). He was the only child of the ruler of the Kosala Kingdom, King Suddhodana and Dewi Maha Maya. Siddhartha attained enlightenment and became a Buddha while meditating under a Bodhi tree in the Gaya Forest, India in 588 BC at the age of 35. Gautama Buddha died after 40 years of teaching Buddhism in 543 BC. These three events occur at the same time, namely on the full moon sidhi in the month of Waisak in the Buddhist calendar. The moment of birth, enlightenment and death of Siddhartha Gautama is celebrated as Vesak Day by Buddhists. "Siddhartha is a human being who teaches the teachings of kindness to fellow human beings, maybe the general language can be said to be a prophet," he explained. The relief on the surface of the wall beneath the giant sleeping Buddha is no less interesting. The relief on the east side and the north side tells about the journey of Gautama Buddha to Kusinara about 3-6 months before he died. At that time, Siddhartha was mostly in a lying position on his right side while teaching Buddhist teachings to his followers Because of his (old) body condition due to the age factor. The relief on the southern part is in the same series as the western part which tells the law of cause and effect, The Maha Paranibbana Buddha statue was built very magnificently, not without reason. According to Sariyono, each monastery has a sleeping Buddha statue of varying sizes. The meaning equally describes the moments of the death of Gautama Buddha. The sleeping Buddha statue in every monastery is also a symbol of Buddhism which is used for pradaksina rituals. Namely the procession around objects that are respected in Buddhism in the monastery area which is carried out clockwise with the position of the object always on the right. The sleeping Buddha statue at Maha Vihara Mojopahit is also used in the ritual. So that this statue is one unit with the monastery in the context of Buddhist worship. "Mainly it is a place of worship for Buddhists. A symbol of respect for the great Buddhist teacher. During Vesak there is a pradaksina procession. However, sometimes outside of Vesak there are people after praying at the monastery they do pradaksina," he concluded. Over time, the giant sleeping Buddha statue at Maha Vihara Mojopahit has also become a tourist destination. Tolerance between various religions is very strong in this place. Currently, this tourist attraction is managed by the Lumbini Foundation. Each visitor must pay a cleaning fund donation of IDR 5,000 per adult and IDR 3,000 for children to enter. #pindle #pindleindonesia #pindlegemindonesia #guidebook #wonderfulindonesia #mytravelstory2