The works on the erection of the biggest statue of Buddha in Russia are drawing towards a completion, a representative of the Tuvan Buddhist Union Buyan Bashky says.

The construction of the 6 meters tall postament has already been finished on the Dogee Mountain. Tibetan artists have been working on the shape of the statue throughout May. Gigantic monument will be located in Kyzyl, the capital of the Republic of Tuva, on the top of Dogee Mountain and will be visible from all parts of the city, Buyan Bashky says.

At the very start of the project the statue was planned to be 40 meters tall, but changes have been made later with the result of reducing height of the monument to 21 meters, 15 meters  - the figure of  Buddha and 6 meters of the lotus throne.

The idea of the emerging of the statue was born several years ago, but due to the economical crisis and financial difficulties the works started just in 2011. All the construction is being made by means of community’s donations and contributions, and not only financial.

“There are 330 thousands of people living in our republic and half of them are Buddhists. It was important for us not so much financial part as to engage non indifferent people. Someone was donating money. We have already spent 5 million rubbles for the construction of the statue for the present moment. Some people were working on the construction site, making cement, others were donating building supplies, armature etc.  We were receiving huge help from firemen. They donated big tents and groceries. People respond to our calls a lot and we haven’t had any difficulties yet,” Buddhist lama says.

“The statue of Buddha is going to be made of fibreglass. It will be set up by the artists in Tibet and transferred by train to Kyzyl later. A good thing about it is that the weight of the statue makes it possible”, Buyan Bashky continues.

The statue itself will be hollow, but we will fill it up with holy books. Buddha was saying that people in the future would read many books and become wise. That is why we decided do it.”

All the works on the erection of the statue are planned to be finished this autumn. Tuvan sculpture will enlarge the world’s collection of the gigantic Buddhas. The tallest Buddha monument in the world with the total height of 153 meters is the Spring Temple Buddha located in Henan, China.