According to the wishes of the Bodhi Tahtaung Sayadaw, the 19-storey Sitting Buddha statue is being built and almost completed in Monywa Township.
“The pagoda is almost finished. All that’s left is to make the terrace. The statues have been placed on each floor inside the pagoda. Inside, there are 12 floors, the head of the statue is formed with six floors, the hair is on one floor, and there are 19 floors in all.
Each floor of the Buddha statue is offered with sitting statues. One of the two elevators has been installed, said Sayadaw U Indobhasa.
With the supervision of Bodhi Tahtaung Sayadaw, the Reclining Image was built in 1991, and the Standing Image began in 1995.
The Sayadaw passed away on 23 November 2006 after doing missionary work non-stop for 46 years.
In 2013, the five patron monks continued to build the Buddha Statues according to the Sayadaw’s wishes.
“Normally, it will be completed early. Because of the Covid and politics, the pilgrims stopped coming, so the donation was delayed. It almost stopped. When the situation is normal, the square will be completed. The square will be wide and the length has to go down the mountain, so it will be expensive.
“When the terrace was built, about K400 million was spent. Now it will cost the same. When the Buddha Sitting Statue was built, it was estimated that K3,000 million would be spent, but now it has exceeded that amount,” said Sayadaw U Indobhasa.
The Maha Bawdi Tahtaung Monastery was established in Khattakan Village, Monywa Township in 1322 ME.
Ashin Narada who would become the Bawdi Tahtaung Sayadaw planted a thousand of Bawdi trees and his action reflected his name as Bawdi Tahtaung Sayadaw.
Now, there are about 10 thousand Bawdi trees plus Buddha sitting statues around the monastery. — Lu Lay/GNLM
