Onyx urn largest in the world

TANGERANG (JP): The 4.89 ton urn for the placing of joss- sticks in the Nimmala Buddhist Monastery, which recently won a certificate for its remarkable size from the Indonesian Museum of Records (MURI), is now waiting for its name to be written up in the prestigious Guiness Book of Records.

The onyx urn, called Thian Sin Lo by the temple's congregation, is 1.2 meters high and has a diameter of 1.5 meters.

MURI earlier this month confirmed the new urn as the biggest in the country.

According to MURI manager Paulus Pangka, who handed over the certificate, his side had already proposed the listing of the urn in the Guiness Book of Records on account of its astonishing size.

"We've proposed that it be recorded in the Guiness Book of Records," he said while presenting the MURI certificate to the monastery foundation.

He said the monastery was the first ever recorded by the Semarang-based museum, and it was the 554th record listed since the giant "Energy Boy" battery mascot of PT Energizer Indonesia.

Nick Edward from the foundation told The Jakarta Post that the monastery was gutted by fire in 1998, and the urn was part of the monastery renovation project.

"When we started to carve the urn, we didn't have any intention at all of nominating it to MURI. But then, after discussing it with the community, we decided to propose it after all," Nick explained.

He said the monastery community also supported MURI's idea of proposing the urn to the Guiness Book of Records.

As a demonstration of support, hundreds of members of the congregation attended a mass prayer on Dec. 9, hoping that the urn could make it into the Guiness Book of Records.

The onyx for the urn was shipped from Poso, Central Sulawesi, to Serang in Banten for the cutting process. It was then sent to Tangerang for carving.

The urn, which cost some Rp 30 million, was carved by three craftsmen: Karna, Gunawan and Yo Tiong Gie. They finished the work in 243 days. (04)