Kuakata is a place of pilgrimage for both Hindu and Buddhist communities because of the Kuakata Buddhist Temple. The temple is located in the Kuakata Parjatan area and in the Rakhain’s locality. This Buddhist Temple is about 100 years old. This Temple has the largest Gautama Buddha statue in South Asia which is about 200 years old. The temple is another attraction of Kuakata apart from the sea beach.
From history it is known that Arakan, the house land of Rakhain at Mayanmer was in added and conquered by Burmese King. Then the Rakhain people got into several big boats and started a journey though the sea without fixing any destination. Their boats stopped at an island “Rangabali” of Patuakhali district and decided to start living there. Some of them entered the forest in search of food, cut down trees and cleared some areas. They started to call the cleared place “Kanshai” meaning “Bhagyakul” in Bengali. Safe water for drinking was difficult to find since it was an island and salty water surrounded it. So, they dug a well for drinking water. This “digging well” eventually gave the place a name “Kua-Kata”. Near this well they set up the temple and established a statue of Buddha.
The statue was created with the mixture of eight minerals weighing 350 kg (approx). For building the temple they followed the architectural patterns of Indo-china. This creates a misconception that the temple is from Thailand, Laos or Myanmar. The scaffold of the temple is three and half feet high of the height of the statue of Buddha.
At that time the Dayak (director) of the temple was Bachin Talukder. He died in 1999 being the charismatic leader of the Rakhain community. After his death his son Aug Summing took the responsibility. Buddhist monks used to preach sermons sitting there.
The well has been neglected all these years and also nobody drank its water. Recently the temple and the areas surrounding it is being renovated with the assistance of Bangladesh Government so that tourist can enjoy the site with convenience.
Now, it has become one of the tourist’s interest, many comes here from across the country and outside the country to see this magnificent temple. The temple is only 20 minutes away from the Kuakata sea beach. Whoever visits the beach can easily hire a rickshaw and can visit the temple. Nobody can describe the natural beauty of Kua-Kata Sea beach unless you enjoy with your own eyes. During dusk it seems the sun gently sinks into the sea as if the sea in the home of the Sun. The beauty of the beach is enriched during full moon. It seems that the big waves are ready to embrace you in the moon light. The Kuakata Buddhist Temple is an asset we have and we need to take proper care of it.