JP/18/PATUNG

JP/18/PATUNG

Surabaya's four-faced Buddha, a religious tourism asset

Indra Harsaputra The Jakarta Post/Surabaya

Without squinting, Buddhist culture researcher Sirichai from Mahidol University, Thailand, focused his gaze with amazement and delight on the four-faced Buddha statue at Sanggar Agung (Great Temple) in Surabaya's coastal amusement park, Taman Ria Kenjeran.

"I'm visiting this place specially to see this gold-plated statue. I'm sure thousands of foreign guests will later be thronging Sanggar Agung to perform religious rituals," Dr. Sirichai, also a university lecturer, told The Jakarta Post several weeks ago.

The statue, nine meters high with four-kilogram of gold plating, is, he says, the tallest in the four-faced category. Thailand boasts the world's grandest statue in the Sleeping Buddha temple in Hatyai -- 35 meters long and 15 meters high -- but this is a reclining Buddha.

The Sanggar Agung Buddha in Surabaya is thus the tallest Buddha of its kind in the world, he claimed, explaining that this kind of statue represented the four-facets of Buddhist philosophy of compassion, charity, neutrality and meditation.

It means that Buddhists should love mankind, contribute to charity without discrimination, and keep praying and carrying out their religious rituals. "When good deeds are properly practiced, a heavenly atmosphere is created on earth," he added.

Inaugurating the monument on the evening of Nov. 10 was monk Viryanadi Mahatera of Sanggar Agung, Thai Kingdom chief monk Phrarajkhru Sivacharaya, and Hindu Dharma priest Gede Anom Jala Karana Manuaba.

The religious affairs ministry's Hinduism-Buddhism director general I. Wayan Suarjaya attended the ceremony, which also saw the Indonesian Museum of Records declare the statue as the country's tallest Buddha.

Viryanadi blessed the monument by intoning Gay Kwang (words to open the light of Buddha), to the accompaniment of Balinese traditional gamelan music played by the Sekehe Gong Banjar troupe. Prayers then followed to consecrate the statue led by the Parisada Hindu Dharma priest and the chief monk of Thailand.

Istanto, spokesman for Buddha Catur Muka ("four-face Buddha"), said the digit "nine" associated with the image was philosophically meant to indicate the Great Lord's relationship with the Nine Deities of Hinduism.

The statue symbolizes nobility, virtue, truthfulness and happiness, whereas in the Hindu faith it suggests the points of the compass.

He expressed the hope that the presence of this statue would turn Sanggar Agung into a tourist destination. This Buddhist figure is especially revered because the temple is located in a well-known place of worship in East Java. "Buddhists from all over the world will come here to worship," he added.

Surabaya has several other famous locations that attract religious tourism, including Ampel, which is known as an Arab settlement of Hadhramaut origin and as a center for Muslim worship, and the Al-Akbar Mosque, which is located in the Menanggal area of the East Java capital.