By the time it's completed in 2005, a statue now slated for construction in Bodh Gaya, India will be the tallest edifice in that country - and the tallest figure of Buddha on the planet.  Artists and engineers in India and
Britain are planning the Maitreya Project, a meditation park funded by Buddisht donors from all over the world. The centerpiece of the 40-acre park will be the 500 foot bronze-clad figure, so large that the Statue of Liberty
would just reach its arm.  Designed according to traditional Buddhist ideals of statuary proportion and built to last a thousand years, the Buddha will sit on a 17-story building housing prayer halls, a museum and thousands of
art objects. [Source: National Geographic 11/00 - Maitreya Project International ]