The Giant Sleeping Buddha Statue In Bogor

When we speak about Buddha, many foreigners’ mind will surely travel to a place where there are large communities of Buddhist people, Thailand. So, I won’t wonder if you think the same way when you firstly read the first words of this article title “The Giant Sleeping Buddha Statue”.

Should there is no words “in Bogor”, I am quite certain that you may guess that I would write about a temple in the White Elephant Country.

But, I am sure after the above two paragraphs, then you will wonder whether it is true or not that in Bogor, The Rain City, there is a giant statue of Buddha.

well, unfortunately it is true. Yes, you can find similar type of statue in my hometown.

The above picture was taken in Buddha Dharma & 8 Po Sat Temple, Parung, Bogor Regency few months ago.

Buddha Dharma & 8 Pho Sat Temple

The temple is located in Parung, a district in Bogor Regency, West Java, Indonesia. The distance is more or less 20 kilometers from Bogor and Southern Jakarta. It takes around 30-60 minutes driving from the center of Bogor City (depending on the traffic situation).

It is a Buddhist temple but as also many other temple in Bogor, the place can be used also for Confusianist to worship.

There is a reason why you may not, ever, hear about the existence of the Giant Sleeping Buddha Statue here. It is a fact that the temple itself is still quite new and young. The 8 Pho Sat temple was completely established in 2005-2006.

The temple is unique and attractive to see. Before you see the Buddha Statue, when you enter the red gate, typical entry gate of Chinese temples in Indonesia, you will be welcomed by few things.

Stupa

Stupa. Yes, this structure will be the first to see when you enter the 8 Pho Sat Temple.

As you may know, the same structure can be found in Borobudur Temple, the biggest Buddhist Temple in Indonesia.

Relief

The carved wall showing the journey of the Siddharta Gautama (Buddha) life sits behind the stupa. It is painted in yellow.

The Giant Sleeping Buddha Statue

Behind the relief wall, then you can find the large hall. In the middle of the hall, it is laid the Giant Sleeping Buddha Statue.

It has 18 M length and 5 M Height.

It took 2 years, from 2010 up to 2012 to complete the establishment of the giant statue. More than 500 bags of cement was used to form it.

Furthermore, the carver/sculptors and the workers who performed the job had to follow some strict rules, such as not eating meat, being vegan and also must do special ritual.

The sleeping position of the statue is used because Buddha usually got an enlightenment while he was on this position.

Surrounding the big statue, besides there are ritual equipment, there are also glass cabinet full with hundreds of Buddha effigy in smaller size.

The look of the effigies are as below

Each mini Buddha statue has a name tag attached. The name is connected to the worshiper who expects to get the bless of Buddha by having its mini statue placed in the temple.

The temple is open not only for worshipers but also for tourism. However, as the place is not actually provided for tourists, all visitors are expected to follow the rules and keep their manner during their visit.

Wearing proper clothes will be appreciated and the visitors should not back the Giant Sleeping Buddha Statue as it’s considered impolite.

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You should not wonder that there is Buddhist Culture here in Indonesia, especially Bogor. Even though, nowadays Indonesia has been known as Moslem Country, but the country has also other religions and cultures.

Besides, in the past, if we read Indonesian history book, then you can find that Buddhist Kingdom ruled this archipelago for quite long time. One of the proof is the Borobudur Temple.

The Giant Sleeping Buddha Statue can be found also, besides in Bogor, in Mojokerto, East Java.