“Nothing Happens by Chance”

WHAT STARTED OFF AS A LOGISTIC NIGHTMARE IS TODAY THE WORLD’S TALLEST TESTAMENT TO FAITH
INTRO: On 18 February, 2004, Chief Minister Pawan Chamling inaugurated the 135 ft tall statue of Sikkim’s patron saint, Guru Padmasambhava, at Samdruptse above Namchi. On the seventh anniversary of this historic event, NOW! reproduces a special feature authored by PEMBA THONDUP which formed part of the newspaper’s special coverage of the momentous day. Mr. Thondup, then a Special Officer in the Chief Minister’s Office, is sadly no more among us but his work, like this fluid account of this special project, sustains…
[this feature was first published in NOW! issue dated 18 Feb 2004]
Guru Rinpoche, as Guru Padmasambhava is more commonly known, visited Sikkim in the Eighth century. He is said to have meditated in all the four corners of the State and fortified it against all the negative influences and established the Nyingmapa order of Tibetan Buddhism here. He is also believed to have compiled and left behind his teachings and guidelines in sacred safe places under the care of Dharmapalas and Dakinis in this, now blessed land, so that the Dharma would flourish here. Guru Rinpoche permeates the very ethos of Sikkim and now, nearly thirteen centuries after his passage through Sikkim, the land is paying a grand homage to its Patron Saint. On 18 February [2004], the Chief Minister will inaugurate the 135 ft. statue of the Guru at Samduptse about 5 kms from the south district headquarters of Namchi.
While no one can today deny that it is in the fitness of things that such an extravagant thanksgiving be propitiated to the Guru by the people most touched by his teachings, it was a project that almost did not happen. Announced by Mr. Chamling during the Pang Lhabsol celebrations in 1996, it was received with awe by some and scepticism and doubt by most. Sikkim after all had never undertaken a philanthropic project so big.
The lack of experience aside, the sheer logistics were too challenging for most people to even comprehend. The site was located on a hill-top with no motorable access and the nearest town was 8 kms away and there was also not a drop of water in the vicinity. To construct and install a 100-plus feet statue atop such a remote place, therefore appeared not only insane but a task impossible to execute.
While many thought it a fantasy of an idealist, some others were less charitable and dismissed the announcement as a political gimmick. A vast majority did not take it seriously and subsequent delays presented further opportunity to the detractors to allege that the ruling Government was merely playing with the sentiments of the tribals of Sikkim, who are mostly Buddhists.
Recollecting those days now, the Chief Minister says he remained unmoved by negative comments. In his heart he knew that he would see the project through, he reminisces. The project did get a propitious beginning when His Holiness the Dalai Lama arrived at Namchi in South Sikkim on 21 October, 1997 to lay the foundation stone the next day. The significance of the day was not lost even on the weather. Although it had rained throughout the night at Namchi, on the appointed day the entire region was swathed in glorious sunlight.
However, the project, despite the best of efforts, was consistently getting delayed. It was perhaps awaiting another religious prompting and this came in the form of Kyabje Dodrupchen Rinpoche who was convinced to take charge of the design, construction and installation of the statue.
How this near impossible task was finally accomplished is perhaps best explained in the words of Kyabje Dodrupchen Rinpoche himself. Speaking at Samduptse to those associated with the project on 16 December, 2001, he said: “According to Dharma, nothing happens by accident. It’s our karma and prayers that we all have gotten together in one place to work on such a sacred project. The Chief Minister, even though he is not Buddhist by faith in this life time, must surely belong to the lineage of Boddhisatvas from the previous lives. That is how he is able to think of such a project and also be in a position to make it happen.”
Treated to such a motivational speech, work on the project began in the earnest and sailed through unhindered. More than 1000 labourers and scores of experienced engineers and highly skilled architects and sculptors laboured through nearly three years to complete this awe-inspiring and towering statue. Hundreds of volunteers from different regions and surrounding villages also offered a helping hand to this prestigious project. More than 48,000 bags of cement and tons and tons of Tata Steel were used for the statue which itself is made of cement, concrete and copper.
Now that it is ready, it can be said without dispute that the 135 feet statue is the tallest Statue of Guru Rinpoche in the world. It is much taller than the famous bronze Buddha at Kamakura, Japan, cast in 1252, which stands 42 feet and has a circumference of 97 feet, or the gigantic statue of Maitreya [Jhowo Jhampa] at Tashilhunpo Monastery at Shigatse which stands at 85 ft. None, as the records show, is as grand as the one at Samdruptse.
The project today stands as a testament to team effort. Every cog in the wheel worked in perfect timing to ensure that the structure, when completed, met all the technical as well as aesthetic requirements. Although the total cost of the project at Samdruptse works out to Rs. 6.76 crores, the statue itself cost little more than Rs. 4.55 crores. The high-powered committee comprising of secretaries of Tourism [the implementing department], Buildings & Housing, Roads & Bridges, Ecclesiastical, Forest and Finance departments worked in close consultation with Dodrupchen Rinpoche and his Chorten Trust to ensure that work was never hampered for lack of coordination.
The statue is designed according to traditional Buddhist edicts of statuary proportion and moulded as per the measurement and other details explained in the Thekcha composed by the great Vajrayana teacher Je Mephan Rinpoche. The precise measurement of every segment of the statue of Guru Rinpoche has been meticulously extracted from the original scripture. Aware that when an image drawn by a Lharipa on a smaller scale was transformed to the proportions laid out for the Samdruptse Project, the errors multiplied and the image proportionately lost in originality, the Dodrupchen Chorten Trust monitored each stage of the construction and ensured that the gigantic statue of Guru Rinpoche was proportionately and faithfully replicated from the measurements given in the Thekcha on the miniature statue.
Dodrupchen Rinpoche recalls how, when he was first approached by the Chief Minister to undertake the project in 1997, he had tried to opt out by pointing out that he had no “experience or worldly education” to take on a project so big. “He [the CM], however, insisted that I take on the project because worldly people will not know how to go about such an important project in true spirit. That made me think. When he, as the leader of our society, was making such an effort to build a statue of Guru Rinpoche in this sacred hidden land, then, I being a lama should help realize his prayer come true. I decided to take on the project,” the Rinpoche said.
For Sikkim that was one of the most positive decisions taken in recent times.
Coming back to Dodrupchen Rinpoche’s “nothing happens by accident” statement. Mr. Chamling, when asked to share why he decided on such a huge project said that the day his Government assumed power in 1994, he decided in his mind to take some concrete steps to pay a fitting tribute to the great saint who had blessed Sikkim 1200 years back and whose teachings permeated not only the Sikkimese ethos, but also had a profound effect on generations of people throughout the world. Through this project he also hoped to strengthen the religious foundation Sikkim. The Chief Minister feels that the mandate that brought him to power is not just to shepherd development in the social sector, but also promote, cultivate and foster the various religions and faiths that knit together the gloriously colourful social fibre of Sikkim.
Samdruptse was handpicked by the Chief Minister for this noble venture because of its historical background. History records that in the eighteenth century, Princess Pedi Wangmo conspired with the royal physician to murder her half brother, the king of Sikkim at the time, Chogyal Chagdor Namgyal. Official summons were sent to apprehend Pedi Wangmo and execute her. In the absence of prompt communication facilities during those days, the executors of the royal summon were told to send smoke signals from the peak of Samdruptse the moment the “evil” Princess is executed. Eventually, when the smoke signal billowed from the top of Samdruptse, it announced the victory of good over evil. Mr. Chamling selected Samdruptse so that just as the peak had sent out a message of the victory of good over evil some 300 years back, it may send out prayers for love, compassion and kindness in the present times.
The site received instant religious approval when Dodrupchen Rinpoche, who first visited Samduptse on 5 May, 1997 along with the Committee constituted to oversee the implementation, expressed that no site could have been more suitable and ideally located than the remote hilltop of Samduptse.
Six years later, in a grand religious ceremony held at Samdruptse on 28 November, 2003, His Eminence officially handed over the completed statue to the Chief Minister. The Chi-tyo Chi-len [handing and taking over] service was attended among others by Rajya Sabha MP, PT Gyamtso, Dy. Speaker, Sikkim Legislative Assembly, Palden Lachungpa, Tourism Minister, KT Gyaltsen, senior secretaries of the State Government including eminent Rinpoches and prominent representatives of Dodrupchen Chorten Trust.
Venerable Dodrupchen Rinpoche later thanked the Chief Minister for entrusting such an important project to a “humble” Lama like him and assured that he had completed the Statue with the best of intentions to benefit the people of Sikkim and all sentient beings. The Rinpoche, while reiterating that he had executed the project as per the wishes of the Chief Minister, said he was now handing over the completed statue to the Chief Minister personally so that he could chart the future course for this great beginning.
On 18 February, the statue will be gifted to the people.