Maitreya Statue on Cam Mountain

As the cable car nears the central area of Núi Cấm, the first thing to appear in the window is a large white shape, standing out against the green of the forest. It is a statue of Maitreya, the Buddha of the future.

The statue stands in the grounds of Chùa Phật Lớn, the Large Buddha Pagoda, on the summit of the mountain. The summit lies in Núi Cấm Commune, in An Giang. The statue is 33.6 meters tall and faces south. Its base measures 27 by 27 meters, and the shell of the statue covers nearly 2,500 square meters. The whole structure weighs nearly 1,700 tons of reinforced concrete, and the statue itself accounts for 600 tons. These figures give a sense of the scale of a work raised on a high mountain, in the middle of the Mekong Delta.

Construction began in April 2004 and finished in December 2005, on grounds of 2.2 hectares. The sculptor Thụy Lam designed the statue in the image of the Venerable Bố Đại, who in Buddhist culture is an incarnation of Maitreya. Bố Đại is shown with a full, round body, a cloth sack on his shoulder and a joyful smile. He is a symbol of compassion, tolerance and joy. In front of the statue, that smile needs little explanation.

Two records are tied to this statue, and they need to be stated exactly. On January 2, 2006, it set a Vietnam record as the largest statue of Maitreya on a mountaintop in Vietnam. On March 2, 2013, it set an Asia record as the largest statue of Maitreya on a mountaintop in Asia. The record depends on the mountaintop, so the full phrase goes with it every time the record is named.

The statue makes more sense once the pagoda beside it is in mind. Chùa Phật Lớn is recorded as having a history that begins in 1912, when a Buddhist practitioner named Bảy Do founded it. The name of the pagoda is tied to the first Buddha statue that stood there. The Maitreya statue of today carries on the spiritual role of that place, on a far larger scale.

In front of the statue lies Thủy Liêm Lake, and forested mountains surround the whole work. That is why, in so many photographs taken from the front, water fills the first row. The statue stands on the mountain with its reflection below it in the lake.

The cable car, which has run since February 14, 2015, covers 3.5 kilometers and brings people straight up to the central area of the mountain. Service cars also climb the road for those who would rather watch the scenery pass. Few people know that inside the statue there is a space for worship.

The Maitreya statue on Núi Cấm is a symbol of great physical size, yet what it offers is simple. The joyful smile of the Venerable Bố Đại looks down over the wide fields of An Giang below. It is a reminder that peace and tolerance are not things to be sought far away. They are here, on the summit of a sacred mountain in the heart of the plain.