India's tallest Buddha statue inaugurated in Sarnath

The country's tallest standing statue of Lord Buddha has been inaugurated at the Sarnath Thai temple in Varanasi.

Former prime minister of Thailand Surayud Chunalot inaugurated the 80-feet-tall statue yesterday and the ceremony was also attended by Thailand's chief priest Fra Suthi.

"The statue symbolises Indo-Thai ties," Chunalot said, adding that priests from India went to Thailand to spread the teachings of Buddhism.

The statue has been constructed with an estimated cost of Rs2 crore and consists of 815 stones.

The project took 14 years to complete and was conceived after Taliban authorities in Afghanistan destroyed the Bamiyan Buddhist statues.