Source: CCTV.com

01-22-2009 09:13

188 Buddhist statues belonging to the Arhat Temple in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality have undergone a facelift. The polished status are now ready for viewing by visitors.

The renovated statues are 1.5 meters tall. Each one weighs between 35 and 40 kilograms.

The renovated statues are 1.5 meters tall. Each one weighs between 35 and 40 kilograms. Inside the hollow statues are Buddhist scriptures and other religious artifacts.

The project consumed a total of 50 tons of raw lacquer, extracted from the fine sumacs in the mountainous region of North China's Shaanxi province.

The temple is also aiming to recreate a scene of five-hundred Arhat monks listening to a discourse of the Buddha.

The project's deputy director says the renovated statues can be preserved for as long as five hundred years. They are both moisture proof and moth-proof. The renovation cost for each statue was thirty thousand yuan, or about four thousand US dollars each.

The entire project actually contains 518 Arhat statues. The temple is also aiming to recreate a scene of five-hundred Arhat monks listening to a discourse of the Buddha.

All the clay statues were made during the 1980's. But the humid weather in Chongqing has caused severe damage to the Buddhist statues.

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Editor:Zhao Yanchen