India to gift 16 foot high idol of Lord Buddha to Sri Lanka

The government of India has commissioned a 16 feet high idol of Lord Buddha, which is proposed to be installed at the entrance of the International Buddhist Museum complex in Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy.

The sculpture is based on the famous 5th Century Gupta Period idol from Sarnath, where Buddha preached his first sermon after attaining enlightenment. The idol and its pedestal will be carved out of a single piece of beige-colored Chunar sandstone to be sourced from Mirzapur