Centre has
biggest Guan Yin in SE Asia
KATHLEEN ANN KILI Nation 21 June
2016
KOTA TINGGI: A new Buddhist meditation centre, home to the largest
Guan Yin statue in South-East Asia, has opened its doors to the
public.
The
10.6m-tall golden statue is valued at over RM2mil. Housed at the
Thekchen Choling Kota Tinggi Meditation Centre, the statue contains
ancient relics, precious stones and prayer items which are over
1,000 years old.
Its
spiritual director Namdrol Rinpoche said it took about a year to
complete due to the detailed artwork of the statue known by its
Tibetan name “Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara”.
It is
adorned with pearls, corals, turquoise and prayer beads.
“The
treasures inside the statue are priceless,” he said during the
opening ceremony of the centre on Sunday.
Located in
the small and remote Tai Hong village, the centre is an ideal place
for prayers and meditative retreat.
“This
centre will be a place for people to shut out from their busy and
hectic lives and to awaken the spiritual nature in us, as we are
becoming too wired up,” he said.
“This is
why we chose to build the centre on the outskirts,” he said, adding
that he had about 20,000 devotees in Malaysia and
Singapore.
The centre
features a large prayer hall, bedrooms for visiting lamas and
retreat participants, amenities such as a kitchen, dining area and
communal toilets.
“To benefit
the local community, we plan to have free TCM (Traditional Chinese
Medicine) consultation services and medicine as well as alternative
healing such as reiki,” he said.
Reiki is a
healing technique based on the principle that the therapist can
channel energy into the patient by means of touch.
State
Tourism Committee chairman Datuk Tee Siew Kiong said the meditation
centre was likely to attract more tourists to Johor.
“We are
hoping to see more visitors especially from Singapore, China,
Nepal, India, Hong Kong as well as the United States,” he
said.
He said the
Guan Yin statue is believed to be the second largest in the
world.