Indonesia unveils Asia's tallest Jesus statue
Pastor Dale Morgan
*Indonesia unveils Asia's tallest Jesus statue
*
By correspondents in Jakarta
December 11, 2007 10:28pm
Article from: Agence France-Presse
MUSLIM-majority Indonesia has unveiled one of Asia's tallest Jesus
Christ statues in the mainly Christian town of Manado on North Sulawesi
island.
Indonesian real estate developer Ciputra built the 30m-high statue in
its CitraLand residential estate, hoping it will lure tourists and
become a religious icon, the company's marketing manager Sonya Lasut said.
"It looks like the Jesus is flying to bless people," she said.
The white monument, which shows a robed Christ with his arms and palms
outstretched above his head, took nearly three years to complete and
cost about $A611,000. It also consisted of 25 tonnes of metal fibre and
35 tonnes of steel.
She said the Indonesian Museum of Records had certified the statue as
Asia's tallest Jesus, overtaking the 27m-tall Cristo Rei in East Timor's
capital Dili.
However, Vietnam's state-run tourism agency SaigonTourist says on its
website that the southern coastal resort city of Vung Tau is home to a
32m-tall Jesus Christ statue.