A 52 Mtr. tall Golden Buddha Statue installed in Thimpu at the location of the former ruins of Kuensel Phodrang a palace that belonged to Sherab Wangchuck who was a secular ruler of Bhutan, known as Kunzangphodrang. Its presence reflects the dominant religion in entire Bhutan. Buddhism plays a strong part in the daily life of the Bhutanese. We can see everywhere the strings of prayer flags along road sides, the numerous prayer wheels surrounding the clock tower in the center of town, the small chortens (small religious temples) and the numerous paintings and offerings on the walls and rocks.
The Buddha Dordenma is the largest sitting statue of the Buddha at measuring 51.5 meters in height and made of solid bronze. Inside the Buddha are 125,000 smaller Bhuddha statues, 25,000 12 inch statues and 100,000 8 inch statues. The statue was made celebrating the 60th anniversary of the fourth King Jigme Singye Wangchuck while fulfilling two ancient prophecies from the 8th and 12th century which stated that a giant Buddha statue would be built in the region to bless the world with peace and happiness. This directly lines up with Bhutan’s model of growth focusing more on the Happiness index which measures the individual happiness of each citizen rather than the per capita income or any other monetary data.
