In February 2012 Lama Zopa Rinpoche visited Begnas Lake, Pokhara, and felt that it was an ideal place to build a 33 m high, giant statue of Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava) in bronze.
He has asked Pokhara Buddhist Meditation Centre to coordinate its design and construction.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche has encouraged the building of numerous large statues. The largest one will be the Maitreya Project, a planned 152 m (500 ft) high statue of the Maitreya Buddha in Kushinagar, northern India. When built, it will be the second largest Buddha statue in the world.Traditionally Guru Padmasambhava, the “Lotus One”, is venerated as Second Buddha and is therefore referred to as Guru Rinpoche. In the eighth century he helped introduce the Buddha’s teachings to Tibet.
Because of his compassion and power to overcome hindrances his energy is particularly effective today on a global scale, as sickness, famine, war and conflict continue to intensify, and our well-being and contentment diminish.
Through the strength of Guru Rinpoche’s loving kindness, statues of this “supreme protector” are a source of calm and harmony wherever they are placed.
A holy statue is a way to benefit sentient beings without words. It will liberate beings from samsara in silence. To have such a holy object existing in a country makes [that country] very rich and very lucky. Many people will come to visit for pleasure as tourists, but it will at the same time make their life meaningful. That is the main function of these holy objects realizations of the path to enlightenment by the power of the holy object.