Win Sein Sayar Daw, who oversaw the construction of Myanmar’s famous reclining Buddha in Mon State, died on Sunday in a Yangon hospital at the age of 95.
The cause was a heart attack, the Myanmar Times reported. His body was transported to his monastery near the statue in Mudon Township on the same day. Mon State is southeast of Yangon.
While there, his body “will be kept in a glass coffin inside a special building in the monastery compound where visitors can pay their respects every day,” U Myint Oo, chairman of the monastery’s board of trustees, told the paper, adding that a custom coffin was ordered from Thailand for $11,000.
Mourners, however, are currently able to see the monk while he lies in state before being preserved behind glass, as this photo from the Free Funeral Services Society, which helped with transportation, shows.
Construction of the reclining Buddha, which is about 180 metres long (more than 500 feet) began in the early 1990s.
Photo of statue: Coconuts Media
