First Storey

Inside the Hundred Dragons Hall, you will notice the pervading sense of calm and peacefulness; the presence of many devotees offering to Buddha Maitreya fresh Dendrobium orchids, perfumed candles and agarwood incense, whilst whispering their prayers and wishes. During Buddhist ceremonies, the Hall will be filled with the voices of numerous black-robed devotees chanting the sutras with Venerable Chao Khun Fa Zhao. A wonderful juxtaposition of sight, sound, smell and spirituality!

Buddha Maitreya is in the middle of the venerated Maitreya Trinity, with the Bodhisattva Dharma Garden Grove on the left and the Bodhisattva Great Wondrous Appearance on the right.

It was carved from a single log and painstakingly hand painted using grounded natural stones and vegetable dyes. The Buddha Maitreya sits in a typical Tang Bhadrasana (auspicious) posture, also called Pralambapadasana (European pose), with feet resting on a lotus, symbolic of royalty.

A gilt crown (mukuta) is worn to symbolise the royal status.

Right hand

The aureole (nimbus or mandorla) is shaped like a lotus petal curved towards the head. It has colourful swirling aura and clouds radiating from the head, with a small stupa at the top.

Maitreya, (Sanskrit: Maitri, Metta; Pāli: Ariya Metteyya; Tibetan: Jampa; Mongolia: Maijdari; China: Milofo, 彌勒菩薩 (Mílè Púsa) ; Japan: Miroku, Mirokubutsu 弥勒仏, Miraibutsu 未来仏, Shouraibutsu 将来仏; Korean: Miryek Bosal, 미륵보살) is the future Buddha of this world in Buddhist eschatology.

Maitreya, “The Compassionate One”, “The Compassionate Honoured One”, “The Loving One”, “The Future Buddha”, “Ajita (Invincible)” may be considered either as a Bodhisattva, according to the Sutras, or as a Buddha, according to the Tantras.

In some Buddhist literature, such as the Amitabha Sutra and the Lotus Sutra, he is referred to as Ajita Bodhisattva. It is found in the canonical literature of all Buddhist sects (Theravāda, Mahāyāna, Vajrayāna), and is accepted by most Buddhists as a statement about an event that will take place when the Dharma will have been forgotten on Earth.

Maitreya is typically pictured seated, with either both feet on the ground or crossed at the ankles, on a throne, waiting for his time. He is dressed in the clothes of either a Bhiksu or Indian royalty. As a bodhisattva, he would usually be standing and dressed in jewels. Usually, he wears a small stupa in his headdress that represents the stupa of the Buddha Sakyamuni's relics to help him identify it when his turn comes to lay claim to his succession. He also holds a dharmachakra resting on a lotus. A khata is always tied around his waist as a girdle.

Also known as the Candana (Sandalwood) Buddha, this statue of Buddha Maitreya (CN111; see below; anonymous collector, sold in Sotheby’s, Paris, December 2007, as lot no. 2 to Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum.) was made during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). The Candana Buddha statue was said to be created by King Udayana of Kosambi in ancient India who wanted to have a statue of the Buddha to remember him by. This statue was believed to be the first iconic representation of Buddha Sakyamuni. The Ekottaragama Sutra mentioned that Queen Maya passed away seven days after giving birth to the prince and ascended to Trayastrimsa Heaven reborn as a deva. After His enlightenment, Buddha Sakyamuni ascended to Trayastrimsa Heaven to preach the dharma to Queen Maya for three months. As King Udayana was separated from Buddha Sakyamuni whom he revered very much, he subsequently fell sick with worry and anxiety.

King Udayana was the ruler of Kosambi, who became a dharma protector of Buddha Sakyamuni after his wife became a devout Buddhist. Seeing King Udayana unable to get over his distress, his officials constructed a five feet tall Buddha statue from candana (a kind of sandalwood). Only then did King Udayana recover. Legend has it that the art of making the Candana Buddha later spread to China and Japan. Our artefact is modelled after the Candana Buddha image.

The unique traits of the Candana Buddha include: wearing a kasaya (monk’s robes) with U-shaped folds that drape from the shoulders, standing on a lotus pedestal and revealing both feet and the right hand forming the abhaya mudra (fearlessness gesture; the hand is half-raised with the palm facing outwards) while the left is in varada mudra (wish-granting gesture; the hand hangs downwards to the knee with the palm facing outwards). Wearing a regal-looking crown on his head, the statuette has wavy hair and a high ushnisha, which belongs to the style of esoteric Buddhism. He has expressive, delicate features and wears a smile. He also wears earrings and has a serene expression. There are delicate floral patterns at the ends of the robes. A vishvavajra (crossed vajra) is engraved on the base of the statuette, which is used to seal deity statues after they have been consecrated. It is usually represented with its axes of orientation in the cardinal directions. This skilfully crafted statuette shows the majestic beauty of Buddha Maitreya.

During the Song Dynasty, the image of a pot-bellied Buddha Maitreya gained popularity. Thereafter, Chinese monasteries seldom make images of the early sitting Buddha Maitreya.

In 2004, the artefact printed on the front cover of the commemorative issue of the Sacred Buddha Tooth Exhibition held at Suntec City Convention Centre, was the Maitreya in large stone (left photo) from the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum collection.

Also In 2004, the Sacred Buddha Tooth Exhibition was held again, this time at the Singapore Expo, another Maitreya in large stone (left photo) was used on the front cover of its commemorative issue.

These pictures were given to Singaporean artist Mr Goh Ee Choo, along with a briefing of our requirements for him to prepare a sketch. The sketch was produced and shown to Venerable Chao Khun Fa Zhao.

The required height of 15 feet for the Maitreya Buddha statue was computed from a visitor’s view standing at the temple’s mountain gate. A full size scale Buddha Maitreya Thangka was commissioned to ascertain the visual impact.

The design was also given to the interior consultant to develop the stage and backdrop.

The material for the Buddha statue was deliberated and Venerable Chao Khun Fa Zhao finally decided to use the Taiwanese hinoki (Chamaecyparis obtusa var. formosana or Chamaecyparis taiwanensis). This cypress wood is often the preferred wood in East Asia for Buddha statues. It is grown for its very high quality timber in the United States, Taiwan and Japan, where it is used as a material for building palaces, temples, shrines, traditional theatres, table tennis blades and baths. The wood is lemon-scented, light pinkish-brown, with a rich, straight grain, and is highly rot-resistant.

A search was made through many sawmills in Taiwan, but unfortunately, we could not find such a big piece of log. As the time required for this main feature of the temple was running out, it was decided to join several pieces of logs to get the desired size. Miraculously, we received a telephone call from Taiwan on October 2005 advising that a log which size fitted our requirement had been found that morning. The sawmill owner had actually forgotten about this log. It was a quarter of the original tree and he had sold 3 of the quarters about 20 years ago. As there was no buyer then, he had placed the remaining piece into the sawmill pond. While he was lifting other logs from the pond to show some buyers who came to look for timber, he unexpectedly found this piece of log. Upon receiving the news of such a discovery, Venerable Chao Khun Fa Zhao quickly gave instruction to purchase the hinoki log and he rushed over to Taiwan to conduct further inspection.

A polystyrene full-scale model was made to ascertain the desired details before carving commenced. Venerable Chao Khun Fa Zhao inspected and fine-tuned the polystyrene model in early November 2005.

With great sincerity, Mr Chen Mingfeng and his team started the carving work in earnest. Venerable Chao Khun Fa Zhao made several trips to monitor the progress and fine tune their work. By 27 March 2006, the main features of the carving were completed.

To complement the large Maitreya Buddha statue, Venerable Chao Khun Fa Zhao decided to erect a concrete Sumeru Vault and clad it with traditional lacquered panels. The Chin Ting Enterprise Co Ltd of Fuzhou, China was commissioned to develop the Singhasana stage in Tang period tradition.

The fully completed Buddha Maitreya statue was inspected in Taiwan by Venerable Chao Khun Fa Zhao.

The team from Shanghai You Shan Guan Decorative Design Co Ltd, led by Mr Zhang Jian commenced the painstaking task of painting the Maitreya Buddha, the pedestal throne and the aureole, at our Loyang workshop.

On 30 April 2007, the Maitreya was finally hoisted onto its final place.

This was followed by the final laying of the gold trimmings and final paint touch-ups. By opening day, the Buddha Maitreya was ready, but without the 2 Bodhisattvas.

The crown was also redesigned.

The Bodhisattva Dharma Garden Grove on the left with a slightly shorter apron, and the Bodhisattva Great Wondrous Appearance on the right with a longer apron were installed.

The design for the 2 Bodhisattvas was confirmed after much research and references to multiple versions.

These were hand carved by Mr Qiu Bin Xin from Taishin Arts & Crafts Enterprise, Miao Li, Taiwan and hand painted by Shanghai You Shan Guan Decorative Design Co Ltd, led by Mr Zhang Jian.

As the Singhasana stage is large, Venerable Chao Khun Fa Zhao decided to install huge stage columns and beam to provide a counterbalance and to frame the entire view to make it look more magnificent. These columns and beam are made from solid Canadian Hinoki logs and capped with gilt elephants. They were manufactured by Xianyou Longwei Arts & Crafts Ltd from Putian of Fujian, China.

The pilgrimage site is Mount Leshan, Chengdu, China.