Friday, May 13 2005 14:23 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bangalore: A plan to install the tallest statue of Buddha to be carved out of an imposing 1,050-feet rock near Ramnagara, 40 kms South-West of Bangalore-Mysore highway, best known for the locale of blockbuster 'Sholay', has raised the hackles of environmentalists and rock climbers.

The project undertaken by the Sanghamitra Foundation would take shape out of the "Handi Gondi" monolithic rock with a base width of over 2,000 feet at Gopalapura village in Ramnagara taluk.

"It will be the tallest statue, 712 feet in the world," Foundation President M Ramesh told sources in Bangalore, adding the project would cost Rs 30 crore and is expected to be completed in six years.

The project has received the "Provisional Approval" of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, Ramesh said adding permission had also been obtained for part of the rock coming in the reserve forest area from the State authorities.

Chennai-based Muthaiah Stapthi, a Padmashree awardee, would lead a force of about 500 sculptors in chiselling the statue of Buddha in a monumental work that would involve some 2,000 workers, he said.

An observation tower similar to the "Ashoka Sthambha (pillar), reminiscent of the peace and non-violent revolution kindled by Emperor Ashoka who promoted Buddha's teachings, would be constructed diagonally opposite to the Buddha statue to enable the visitors to get "an eye-to-eye view" of the statue.