BY RIFTHI ALI
Pic by Pradeep Dilrukshana
Government of Indonesia handed over a Buddha Statue to the Sri Lanka Government through the Indonesian Embassy in Colombo yesterday. Indonesian Ambassador to Sri Lanka Djafar Husein who is to bid farewell handed over the Statue to Prof. G. L. Peiris, Minister of External Affairs. The Statue is a present from the Indonesian Buddhist community for the Sri Lankan people. The Buddha-samadhi Statue is made of lava stone weighing approximately 700 kilograms. The Statue is one of the best carving in art by an Indonesian artiste from Magelang District, close to the renowned Borobudur Temple. The district is famous for its excellent stone and wood carving artworks, exported worldwide. People-to-people contact between Indonesia and Sri Lanka has established centuries ago. It began with the spread of Buddhism to the Archipelago in the 6th century, to the early years of independence in 1950s and up to this day.
Courtesy: Daily Mirror, 03 January 2012
