Visit the Jade Buddha for Universal Peace this week
The story
The Jade Buddha for Universal Peace, a nearly 8-foot tall smiling statue of Buddha carved from gemstone-quality jade, is on display in Charlotte at Minh Dang Quang monastery, 4310 W. Sugar Creek Road, through May 17.
Visitors are welcome from 6 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. each day and there’s no charge.
At the Grand Opening of the Jade Buddha for Universal Peace Exhibit pic.twitter.com/CNnMLLiwDn
— LaWana Mayfield (@lawanamayfield) May 9, 2015
The facts
-The Jade Buddha has been on a world tour since 2009. This is its second visit to Charlotte. It was at Liên Hoa Temple five years ago.
-It weighs 4 tons and was carved from an 18-ton boulder of jade that was found in Canada in 2000. It was carved in Thailand.
-It’s super popular. Nearly 8 million people have seen the statue. Organizers expect as many as 10,000 people will visit it in Charlotte.
-Buddhism is the fourth-largest religion in the world.
They said it
“Our idea is to be able to take the Buddha to the people” -Ian Green, the Australian-born founder of the Jade Buddha project.
C5’s take
Go see it. If it means this much to this many people, it must be worth checking out. And it looks beautiful.
Photos: Robert Lahser/Charlotte Observer
This story was originally published May 10, 2015 at 10:58 PM with the headline "Visit the Jade Buddha for Universal Peace this week."