Construction on the 108-metre-tall Buddha statue has begun atop Mount Bokor in Cambodia’s southwestern coastal province.
Cambodian Minister of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction, Chea Sophara, said the statue of the seated cross-legged Buddha was estimated at around $30 million and would take four years to build.
“It will be the largest Buddha statue in Cambodia and one of the largest Buddha statues in the world,” he said during a groundbreaking ceremony for the statue.
When the construction is completed, the statue will serve as a sacred shrine for Buddhists and this area will become a major Buddhist tourism hub for Cambodia and the world.
Buddhism is the state religion in this Southeast Asian nation, where up to 95% of the population is Buddhist.
Mount Bokor is located about 42km west of the provincial capital of Kampot and 180km southwest of the national capital, Phnom Penh.
