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Old Posted Feb 20, 2007, 2:44 AM
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Jai Jai is offline
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Join Date: May 2004
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Maitreya Buddha Project, Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh

A great project is in the works in one of the poorest parts of India. The Maitreya Project is a tribute to Buddhism for and from the land of the Buddha. At 500ft / 152m, the World's Largest Statue -- a statue three times the size of the Statue of Liberty -- built to last over a thousand years.

The Maitreya Project aims to construct a huge temple dedicated to the Buddha in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh. The project will also build free hospitals, schools servicing tens of thousands of poor, and also be a huge catalyst for infrastructure and tourism development efforts in one of the most economically backwards parts of India.

The project is a joint religious collaboration by organizations representing the various sects and faiths that revere the Buddha: from Mahayana to Vajrayana to Hinayana to Hindu to Jaina.

The Project was funded by Buddhists and Hindus in India, Tibet, Japan, Korea and the West. The conceptualizer of the Maitreya Project is an Nepalese-Tibetan spiritual leader, Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

Through this project, India once again shows that the ancient arts of massive devotional architecture continues to thrive.






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Project Overview
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From the website:
"Maitreya Project is based on the belief that inner peace and outer peace share a cause and effect relationship and that loving-kindness leads to peace at every level of society — peace for individuals, families, communities and the world.

The Maitreya Buddha statue is being designed to last for at least 1,000 years. Through this entire new millennium and into the next, it will effect positive change within the hearts and minds of people all over the world and benefit the people of India through its social and economic activities.

Maitreya Project’s vision includes schools that focus on ethical and spiritual development as well as academic achievement, and a healthcare network based around a teaching hospital of international standard to provide healthcare services, particularly for the poor and underprivileged.

Maitreya Project is working with local, regional and state governments in Uttar Pradesh, India, where the Kushinagar Special Development Area Authority will support the planned development of the area surrounding the Project.

The Maitreya Buddha statue is being built to bring as much benefit as possible, for as long as possible, so that loving-kindness will eventually arise in the hearts of all beings. "








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Some of the benefits of the Project
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Employment and Commerce



"As work proceeds, the Project is drawing on the expertise of Indian and regional consultants, architects, engineers, town planners, financiers, and other professionals. The Project's construction phase will directly employ more than a thousand skilled and semi-skilled workers, and hundreds more will be indirectly employed in industries supplying materials and services. After completion, hundreds of people will be employed to maintain the park and provide services to visitors all the year round. Thus the Project will provide ongoing opportunities of employment for local people.

The Project will act as a focus for new investment in the region, and will be a major impetus for the economy of the whole area. In this way many other jobs will be created indirectly as the infrastructure and other new and expanding businesses, employ staff.


Infrastructure Development

People sometimes ask, "Why spend so much money on a statue? Why not spend it on education, healthcare, or improving living standards?" In fact, the Project will accomplish all these objectives.

The Maitreya Project will have an uplifting influence on the region, providing -- directly and indirectly -- services in healthcare, education, long-term employment, technology development, trade, tourism, agricultural development and other infrastructure services.


Maitreya Project Universal Education School



The existing Maitreya Project Universal Education School is located in Bodhgaya, Bihar State, India.

Because many families have no means to pay for education, the Maitreya Project Universal Education School provides free education and supplies. Over time it will help to raise the education and living standards of the entire community. The school is financed through separate private donations.


Maitreya Project Healthcare



Maitreya Project is creating public health programmes of international standard in northern India with the intention of supplementing those medical services already provided by the government.

The Project will build a teaching hospital of international standard as the focus of its healthcare activities. This will offer treatments based on Ayurvedic, Tibetan, and Western medical systems. The hospital will provide first-rate medical care in surgery and other modern procedures.

The healthcare system will primarily serve the poor and under-privileged, even in remote parts of the area.

Over the years, the medical services will be developed and expanded to meet the needs of many communities."


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Engineering Challenges
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"In both size and sustainability the statue and throne building are unlike any other monument in the world. The Project's professional partners include world leaders from India and around the world who are expert in project management, structural, mechanical, electrical, environmental, sustainable and reverse engineering, scanning, surfacing, mould making and casting.



One of the main goals of Maitreya Project is to build a monumental work of art that will serve as a constant source of inspiration and a symbol of loving-kindness for at least 1,000 years.

While the conditions the statue will meet today can be easily measured, projecting data for weather patterns over the 1,000-year lifespan of the statue is much more difficult. The huge structure must withstand high winds, extreme temperature changes, seasonal rains, possible earthquakes and floods, and environmental pollution throughout at least 1,000 years. For this reason, the statue must be designed to withstand the most challenging conditions that could conceivably arise.

The computer model must be examined for wind loading, heat expansion, possible earthquakes, and extreme weather conditions. By using advanced computer software, all possible stresses can be simulated and the design can be adapted where stresses could have become too high. These software programmes can depict stress levels as different colours.

Extensive research has gone into developing the special alloy of bronze to be used for the outer 'skin' of the statue, an aluminium-nickel-bronze.



As the bronze 'skin' will expand and contract dramatically due to daily temperature changes, the statue will require special expansion joints. While these must be invisible to the observer, they must also be constructed in such a way as to protect the internal supports of the statue from water leakage, erosion and corrosion.

'For technicians and engineers, the requirements for the statue are very unusual. Our last century is famous for having created the biggest of most man-made structures. The lifespan of 1,000 years, however, is the requirement that influences nearly all aspects of architectural design and material selection."










Cheers,
Jai
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