Kendrapada: A 45-ft-high stone statue of Odisha-born Guru Padmasambhava will be erected at the famous Buddhist site of Udayagiri in Jajpur district at an estimated cost of Rs 3 crore. The initiative has been taken to attract more tourists, particularly visitors from abroad, to famous Buddhist sites of Ratnagiri, Udayagiri and Lalitgiri. The project is being undertaken with the assistance of the Light of BuddhaDharma Foundation International India, Bodh Gaya, said assistant collector (Jajpur) Tapas Kumar Sahoo.Foundation executive director Wangmo Dixey recently visited Udayagiri to chalk out plans for construction of the statue. The authorities have allotted 40 decimals of land at Udayagiri for the project, while the district administration has assured all possible assistance for its execution, Sahoo said.The stone carving work for the statue began on Friday under the guidance of noted sculptor Ratnakar Moharana and his team of 25 sculptors. Around 300 tonnes of Chunar stone, or red-spotted sandstone, sourced from Rajasthan will be used for the statue. The construction is expected to take around two years, Sahoo added.Guru Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche, is believed to have been born in Oddiyana, identified with present-day Odisha. According to noted researcher and former principal of Sahaspur College Harish Chandra Prusti, he was the adopted son of King Indrabhuti of Sambhala in Oddiyana.Padmasambhava is regarded in Tibet as one of the founding figures of Tibetan Buddhism. He arrived in Tibet in 749 AD and spent 54 years there, Prusti said.Through his teachings, wisdom and compassion, Padmasambhava played a significant role in preserving the esoteric traditions of Buddhism in Tibet. “In Guru Rinpoche, the wisdom, qualities and activities of all Buddhas are condensed into one,” Prusti said.