Dharamshala, 4th March: The Tibetan Buddhist monument of Padmasambhava, created six years ago was smashed by the Chinese government to stamp out Tibetan religious traditions. The destruction of the Padmasambhava statue also known as Guru Rinpoche is considered the latest attack on Tibetan religious liberty. It once stood three stories high at the Chanang Monastery in Drago (in Chinese Luhuo) county of the Kardze (in Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. It was razed in late January, satellite imagery revealed.
According to RFA, the Chinese government has demolished a third Tibetan Buddhist statue, the latest example of state efforts to eradicate Tibetan religious traditions. Satellite footage of the Chanang Monastery obtained on Oct. 3, 2019, shows the three-story-high statue of Padmasambhava, but an image taken on Feb. 25, 2022, indicates the statue has been destroyed, as indicated by the circular items on the ground.
One of the RFA sources claimed that “When the Chinese government demolished the 99-foot statue of Buddha and the three-story statue of Maitreya Buddha at Gaden Namyal Ling monastery in Drago, they trotted out unbelievable justifications such as that the height of the statue was not appropriate … or that it was blocking the pathway within the monastery compound, But this statue of Padmasambhava in not in the way of the monastery, so it is evident that it can be nothing but the Chinese government’s encroachment on Tibetans’ religious freedom,”
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