✍ 24 Dec 2023. A trip to Bhutan has been on my bucket list for a long time, and one of the places I was looking forward to visit is Buddha Dordenma (also known as Buddha Point).
At 51.51 metres (169 feet) tall, and sitting atop Kunzang Phodrang which is 8711 feet high, Buddha Dordenma can be seen from many places in Thimphu, capital and largest city of Bhutan.
It is a visual landmark for Thimphu like KL Tower for Kuala Lumpur, CN Tower for Toronto, etc.
Buddha Dordenma is at the top of a flight of about 290 steps.
The site was formerly the ruins of Kuensel Phodrang palace of the 13th Druk Desi Sherab Wangchuck (1697 - 1765).
Construction of Buddha Dordenma began in 2006. Buddha Dordenma was consecrated in 2015 to honour the 60th birthday of Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the fourth king of Bhutan.
There's a separate (side) entrance accessible to cars, at the top where the main square is. But, I just like to climb these stairs.
I came here and climbed these stairs 3 times within 24 hours as I wanted to see Buddha Dordenma at daybreak, midday and midnight.
There was an aura around Buddha Dordenma at first light.
Buddha Dordenma fulfils a prophesy by Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava) in the eighth century, that a Buddha statue would be built here.
Buddha Dordenma also fulfils the twelfth century prophesy of Yogi Sonam Sangpo that a Buddha statue would be here to “bestow blessings, peace, and happiness to the whole world”.
Inside the chamber of Buddha Dordenma are 125,000 (100,000 eight and 25,000 twelve inch tall) miniature Buddhas.
For comparison, about 140,000 people live in Thimphu now (2023), and about 110,000 when Buddha Dordenma was consecrated in 2015.
Buddha Dordenma cost over USD100 million to build. Names of donors are displayed in the meditation hall with Singaporean Rinchen Peter Teo listed as the main sponsor.
Buddha Dordenma and the 125,000 miniature buddhas are made of bronze and gilded with gold, hence the high USD100 million cost.
In the night sky, the crescent moon and further beyond is the planet Venus.
Your Bhutanese guide will almost certainly take you here as Buddha Dordenma is considered one of the most important and representative of Thimphu landmarks.
Index Bhutan 👈 click
Buddha Dordenma Statue སྟོན་པ་རྡོར་གདན་མ།
Address: Kuenselphodrang, Thimphu, Bhutan
Tel: +975 7785 7141
Hours: 9am - 5pm
Free entry
Written by Tony Boey on 24 Dec 2023
No comments:
Post a Comment
All comments submitted with genuine identities are published