Pagoda Project

Buddha relics now on display at Sunnataram Forest Monastery: Relics of the original Buddha have been gifted to Phra Mana Viriyarampo. They will be an integral feature of Pagoda to be built at the Sunnataram Forest Monastery near Bundanoon in the NSW Southern Highlands. The relics of the great Buddha Siddhartha, who lived in the north of India around 2,545 years ago, were donated to Phra Mana from an isolated monastery in Northern Thailand. Phra Mana's incredible journey started in April 2002. He wanted to transfer energy from the oldest monastic sites of Thailand to the very new monastic site in Australia.

At each monastery Phra Mana meditated and prayed. The ritual also included collecting a little earth from each site. At the last monastery; Phrathat Jomkitti in Chiangrai, Thailand; an old monk, curious at the earth-collecting ritual approached Phra Mana. They talked for hours and inspired by his quest, the monk took Phra Mana to a secret room that housed ancient artefacts and a gold container on an altar containing Buddha's relics. The sacred relics were given by the old monk expressly to support the good work of his fellow monks in a distant land.

Plan to build Pagoda in Bundanoon: The monastery is planning to build a pagoda containing the Buddha's holy relics, and is now receiving donations to start work on construction in the near future.

The proposed pagoda will be modelled on Wat Doi Suthep in Chaingmai, Thailand

The Sunnataram monks and lay community has been busy organising fund-raising and community awareness programs in local fares such as The Tulip Time Festivals, The Sutton Forest Winery Fare and the Bundanoon is Brigadoon fares - featuring beautiful Healthy Thai Vegetarian Cooking, Tai Chi, Buddhist talks, Meditation and Yoga as a mean of spreading the Dhamma teachings, awareness of the monastery and also to recruit local people to be a part of the construction of the pagoda.

The Buddha's relics are the remains of the physical body of the Buddha after his cremation in India in 543BC. The relics take different shapes and size and resemble crystals or colorful stones. The Buddha's relics are enshrined in many major pagoda's throughout Asia. Buddhist countries and Buddhist hold the highest veneration to the relics as the holiest object of meditation and reflection. A pagoda holding these relices can be a source of inspiration for people to achieve enlightenment and some believe that each of the relices provide pure and peaceful loving energy to the area in which they reside. At the Sunnataram Forest Monastery, we are now displaying an extensive collection of relices which is the largest in the southern hemisphere.

These holy relics are the remains of the Buddha and 25 other know enlightened beings. It is a rare privilege to be able to view these relics now before they are housed in the new Pagoda.

(Click the images)



(Click the images)