Trowulan Reclining Buddha Statue Attracts 1,000 Visitors  

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The number of tourists visiting the huge reclining Buddha statue in Trowulan, Mojokerto, East Java, reaches 1,000 visitors every weekend.

Arianto, one of the officers in charge of the site, said that the statue, dubbed as the biggest Buddha statue in Indonesia, is only frequented by Buddhists but also by the general public.

“This site is open for the general public,” he said on Sunday (25/9).

The entrance fee is also not expensive.

Ari added that to enter the site and see the statue, visitors are charged with only Rp 2,000.

Initially, he added, the statue was built for Buddhist for religious activities. However, as time went by, the statue now becomes a tourist destination with good potentials.

“Because many tourists came here, in 2012, it was inaugurated as a tourist destination,” Arianto added.

The history of the statue began with reclusion done by a Buddhist monk named Viriyanadi Mahatera. In his reclusion, the monk received a guidance to build a Buddhist temple.

However, with the majority of the locals are non-Buddhist, the monk struggled to get permission from the locals. Eventually, the statue was built in 1990.

The statue is 22 meters long, 6 meters wide and 4.5 meters in height.

In 2001, it was recorded by the Indonesian Museum of Records (MURI) as the biggest Buddha statue in Indonesia.

It is also the third biggest Buddha statue in South East Asia.

JAYANTARA MAHAYU | NIEKE