The Buddhas of Blissful Abode

Dedicated to my Father, to whom I owe my Upbringing and Education, and whose Sacrifices and Toils to raise a Family has only begun to hit home. Thank you, Pa.

The Reclining or Sleeping Buddha is generally regarded as the second biggest in the world after the one in Myanmar. Unfortunately, being armed with only a 50mm lens and operating under a time constraint, I was not able obtain an angle of a view that could convey the majestic length of the Reclining Buddha here at Wat Phothivihan, located in Tumpat, Kelantan, Malaysia. The photograph below, shows the Reclining Buddha alongside life-sized statues of prominent Thai Buddhist monks who have passed on.

The Reclining Buddha is about 40 meters in length. It represents the Buddha entering into a state of Nirvana prior to his death. In the reclining position, the Buddha, with a serene and calm half smile in his face, lies on his right side with his head resting in the palm of his right hand, thus symbolizing the Mahaparinirvana (Achievement of Enlightenment).

The 30-metre tall Sitting Buddha of Wat Machimmaram of Kampung Jubakar here in Tumpat is reputed to be the largest in South East Asia. What is even more astounding that this is one of three prominent Buddha statues erected in the PAS-ruled state of Kelantan, Malaysia. PAS, the Islamic Party of Malaysia, is a conservative Islamic political party whose stated goal is the establishment of an Islamic state in Malaysia. The statue was inaugurated in 2001 and is one of many tourist attractions here in Kelantan Darul Naim. Darul Naim also translates as Blissful Abode in English, hence the title.

Taking ten years to build and costing over US$1 million, it is a Chinese inspired temple with figures from Chinese folklore surrounding it and its inner sanctum. The Sitting Buddha, or also known as the full-lotus position as seen earlier above, represents the Buddha in a meditative pose moments after or before the Buddha perceived Enlightenment thru his own efforts whilst sitting under the Bodhi tree.

The final part of my brief itinerary of the Buddhas of Blissful Abode ends here with the Standing Buddha at Wat Pikulthong, a ten minute journey from Kota Bharu. A series of steps will lead you up to this graceful statue, whereby seen on its base, is a much smaller version of the larger one in similar repose.

The Standing Buddha, with its left palm raised with a gesture of moving forth, represents the conquest of or absence of fear itself. The gesture of moving forth is an exhortation to devout Buddhists to conquer or absent fear from their hearts and minds. Buddhist iconography, in contemporary Buddhism, has little or no relevance to many Buddhists today and is now in the lay of academics and those in the know.