Touching and beautiful Tsunami Memorial in Sri Lanka
I saw this article online which I wished to share with you all. I have always loved Sri Lanka and thought that it is a very beautiful country. When I last visited there in 2004, I found the Sri Lankans to be very gentle and devout Buddhists. Throughout Colombo, which is their capital city, you will see roadside shrines of all shapes and sizes dedicated to the Buddha.
Our trip to Colombo was just a stopover on our way to Bodhgaya for pilgrimage. We stayed for one night and departed early the next day for Bodhgaya which is in India. When we touched down in Bodhgaya Airport, our friends rushed up to us looking very worried and relieved at the same time. That was when we learned that Sri Lanka had been hit by the tsunami and we had left the country just in time. Our friends were worried because they did not know if we had made it out, or been caught up in the chaos. Needless to say, we were very shocked and saddened to hear the news. Sri Lanka, along with Indonesia, was very badly affected by this natural disaster and thousands of people lost their lives, and even more people lost their homes and livelihoods.
To commemorate this tragedy, Sri Lanka has erected this Buddhist memorial dedicated to everyone who lost their lives, as well as the people who survived and remained behind to try and rebuild their lives. The Buddha here was donated by a Japanese artist, and is in the gesture of pacifying obstacles, with his right hand raised and palm facing outwards. You will find this in many places where there are outdoor Buddha statues erected, especially those facing the sea, for example the Lantau Island Buddha. In Sri Lanka, it is especially poignant since one of their greatest tragedies, which is the tsunami, came from the direction of the sea.
It is excellent that Sri Lanka has built and dedicated a Buddha statue for the deceased. Not only will the statue generate a tremendous amount of merits for them to take a good rebirth, but it will also plant seeds of enlightenment for all who go there to remember this most painful event in Sri Lanka’s history. Do read about the memorial below.
Tsem Rinpoche
To read more about Sri Lanka and information on how to get there, please click here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/?p=127234
To read more about one family’s pilgrimage to this wonderful island nation, which was inspired by the article above, please click here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/?p=153309
Buddhist Tsunami Memorial in Sri Lanka Displays the Tragedy & Miracles of the 2004 Tsunami
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The news of another tsunami in Indonesia really hit me hard. Not only because I had spent time in the beautiful country last year, but also because I had spent time in parts of Sri Lanka so devastated by the 2004 tsunami. During my visit to Unawatuna, Sri Lanka, I visited the Buddhist Tsunami Memorial. Set in front of a small pond and incredibly beautiful Buddha statue donated from an artist in Japan, this little photo gallery is barely noticeable.
The unassuming exterior, looking more like a rundown house than photo gallery, drew me in. Inside two men welcomed me in and allowed me to take in the images recording the horrific tragedy this country suffered in 2004. The two men had each lost most of their family members in the tragedy, but as they explained they were not alone, nor were they the ones who suffered the most. The images on the walls of the dead villagers, the destroyed homes, the devastated children and the locals trying to survive were heart wrenching.
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One of the images that caught my attention required an explanation from one of the men. It was a train beaten and damaged, completely off the track. They explained that when the first wave came through it hit the train but left the train standing in its position on the track. The locals saw this as a great opportunity to find a place of protection so they ran behind the train to wait out the storm. As the second wave hit, the train could not remain in its place and was knocked on its side. As it toppled it took 1,700 lives with it. I stood in shock, unable to imagine how the survivors have gone on to find happiness and joy in the years following. To see the destruction in the images around the museum I was amazed at the ability of the country to rebuild and recover with their hope and love intact.
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The two men told me that not all that happened on that day was a tragedy. They told the story of a large white Buddha statue in a glass box close to the sea. After the tsunami people noticed the glass house had been completely destroyed, like everything else in the area, but the Buddha remained in absolutely perfect condition. They told me it was that miracle, among many others, that assured everyone that things would someday be good again.
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Photo: Temple Wella Devalaya in Unawatuna, Sri Lanka
(Source: https://30seconds.com/travel/tip/17274/Buddhist-Tsunami-Memorial-in-Sri-Lanka-Displays-the-Tragedy-Miracles-of-the-2004-Tsunami)
Location of the Peraliya Tsunami Memorial
Sri Lanka is just off the southern tip of India. The red dot is the location of the Peraliya Tsunami Memorial, which is in the southwest of Sri Lanka. For information on traveling to Sri Lanka, please go to https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/?p=127234. Click to enlarge.
The Peraliya Tsunami Memorial is very close to Galle, which is one of Sri Lanka’s major cities popular with tourists and known for Galle Fort, the fortified old city founded by Portuguese colonists in the 16th century.
More beautiful photos of the Peraliya Tsunami Memorial
This beautiful Buddha statue was donated by a Japanese artist. Click to enlarge.
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This 18.5 metre statue was made in the likeness of the Bamiyan Buddha of Afghanistan. Click to enlarge.
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Tsunami Memorial in Sri Lanka is a monument remembering the 35,000 people who lost their lives just in Sri Lanka during the 2004 tsunami. In loving memory of the 40,000 people who died in the tsunami and the thousands largest single rail disaster in world history. The powerful Sri Lanka tsunami-rail disaster occurred when a crowded passenger train was destroyed on a coastal railway in Sri Lanka by a tsunami. Built by Japanese Buddhist community to commemorate this tragedy, Sri Lanka has erected a Buddha Statue dedicated to everyone who lost their lives, as well as the people who survived. A beautiful place of sad memory . Having this Buddha statue built there will definitely plant the seeds of enlightenment for who visited this place and seeing is a blessing.
Thank you Rinpoche for this beautiful sharing.
Thank you for the sharing the Buddhist Tsunami Memorial in Sri Lanka. Very touching article, heart breaking to read and to see pictures of the Tsunami tragedy. It was Sri Lanka’s worst and biggest natural disaster in recorded history. Many people were killed and thousands lost their home and family.
As we know horrify incident always remarks many unpleasant feelings and memories.
Despite the widespread wreckage and the unfathomable lives claimed, there remains a sense of optimism in the country.
Appreciation the people involved to build a Buddha statue to purify the mind, builds up the serenity within ones and motivates to overcome the negative emotions of fear, hence uplifting the mind and focusing the attention on the reality of the materialistic world. May Buddha bless and calm all those that passed away from the tsunami.
A very good choice to place a Buddha statue there to bless the beings that are around that area. Many people had lost their lives during the tsunami in 2004 and I believe that area will be full of the spirits of the people that lost their lives during disaster.
It good that Sri Lanka has since built and dedicated a Buddha statue for the deceased and to plant the seeds of enlightenment for all who visit and see it. Thank you for sharing nice article with us.
It is also a very good choice to place a Buddha statue there to bless the beings that are around that area. Many people had lost their lives during the tsunami in 2004 and I believe that area will be full of the spirits of the people that lost their lives during that disaster. Could imagine the damages done by this giant waves which has claimed lives of many all these years around the world. Appreciation to the Japanese artist for sponsoring this beautiful Buddha statue. May all the deceased be blessed by the Buddha and plant the seed for them to meet dharma in the future. May Buddha bless and calm all those that passed away from the tsunami. Thank you Rinpoche and blog team for this beautiful and touching post ??
A very nice Buddha statue built. It is sad that so many people were killed in the disaster. May all the deceased be blessed by the Buddha and plant the seed for them to meet dharma in the future. Appreciation to the Japanese artist for sponsoring this beautiful Buddha statue. Look so elegant.
Heart breaking reading and seeing pictures of tsunami disasters. Could imagine the damages done by this giant waves which has claimed lives of many all these years around the world. On 26th December 2004 the tsunami came ashore and killed thousand of passengers on the Colombo to Galle train, also most of the villagers who lived there at that time. It seem that three large tsunami waves hit the remote beach in the south of Sri Lanka, killing many people there. Thousands of people at the eastern and southern populated area were killed or missing, one could imagine it. A monument was built to remember those who lost their lives just in Sri Lanka during the 2004 tsunami. Hundreds of thousands of others whose lives were changed profoundly……sad. It good that Sri Lanka has since built and dedicated a Buddha statue for the deceased and to plant the seeds of enlightenment for all who visit and see it. This Giant Buddha is a memorial to the worst rail disaster in world history.
Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing.
Thank you, Rinpoche and the blog team for sharing with us the beautiful Tsunami Memorial site with the standing Buddha. It is a good decision for them to erect the standing Buddha there because large outdoor Buddha statues have been said to have the ability to pacify natural disasters such as tsunami and bad weather.
It is also a very good choice to place a Buddha statue there to bless the beings that are around that area. Many people had lost their lives during the tsunami in 2004 and I believe that area will be full of the spirits of the people that lost their lives during that disaster. It will be very good to plant seeds in them so that they can have a better rebirth in their future lives.
The tsunami tragedy shows us how insignificant our human body and our human lives area. We can die anytime because there are so many factors out there that can actually kill us. We must feel fortunate to be alive and in the human form to be able to practice Dharma.
The buddha statue is very beautiful. I hope that this statue would help to prevent tsunami. And I also hope that everyone would gain enlightement one day.
May Buddha bless and calm all those that die in the tsunami. May Buddha protect those that live along the beach be protected from tsunami in the future. May all who see photo of Buddha be planted with seed of enlightenment.