Around 600 Buddhists and 30 artists are working at the Linh Phuoc pagoda in Da Lat to complete an 18m flower Buddha statue for the Da Lat Flower Festival in early January 2010.

Linh Phuoc pagoda’s senior monk Thich Tam Vi said they will use 600,000 specially preserved flowers (over 1.5 tonnes) to make the statue in just 20 days. The flowers are collected from gardens in Da Lat and Duc Trong district in Lam Dong province.

The Buddha statue has been designed by the senior monk himself, with a body length of 15.5 m, and a halo of 1m.

Artist Vuong Minh Dung said the size, at nearly 200 sq.m, is equivalent to a small plane: “While the statue is adorned with flowers, it’s frame is made of steel,” Dung said.

The preserved flowers can last for several months and the statue will be displayed for Buddhist followers to admire throughout the second month of the lunar New Year.

Senior monk Thich Tam Vi called it the largest flower-made Buddha statue in the world.

This work will be inaugurated on December 31 and will be recognized as a national record at the Da Lat Flower Festival. The sponsor, Long Quan Company, has sent documents to France to register the achievement.

Linh Phuoc is a famous pagoda in Da Lat and has a 37m-bell tower, the highest in Vietnam.

PV