Those visiting Buddha Smriti Park two months from now could see a brand new statue of Lord Buddha in Bhoomisparsh mudra (posture).

Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation (BUIDCo) would install the second statue of the Budhha on the park premises. The corporation has started reaching out to artists and firms that can design and install the statue in the park. The sculpture would be 12-ft long and 12-ft wide.

The Bhoomisparsh mudra depicts the Buddha sitting in meditation with his left hand on his lap and the palm facing up and the right hand touching the earth. The gesture represents the moment of the Buddha’s enlightenment and finds frequent expressions in Thai Buddhist shrines.

“The corporation has invited applications from artists and organisations of repute, who could make and install the stone-made statue of Gautam Buddha. We would award the work within a month and the statue is likely to come up in another two months,” a senior officer of BUIDCo said.

Bodhgaya Temple Management Committee member secretary Nangzey Dorjee told The Telegraph: “The main statue of Lord Buddha at Mahabodhi Mahavihara in Bodhgaya is in Bhoomisparsh mudra, where the left hand rests on the lap with the palm open and the right arm is kept open over the right knee in such a manner that it almost touches the earth. The posture signifies the enlightenment of Buddha. It is also called the ‘earth witness’ mudra as history behind it is that he asked the earth to bear witness to his worth of becoming a Buddha.”

The existing statue of the Buddha would be shifted to the museum inside the shrine and the new statue would be put at its place. “The existing statue was developed under the guidance of art, culture and youth affairs department, which is also taking care of developing the museum block inside the shrine,” the BUIDCo officer said.

The nine-feet statue made up of brass is christened Jyotirmay, meaning enlightenment. The statue has been installed on a four-feet podium between the two holy saplings brought from Bodhgaya and Sri Lanka. The saplings were planted at Buddha Smriti Park by Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at the time of its inauguration in 2010.

Besides the new statue, a slew of new facilities in on the cards for those visiting the park. “We will develop a façade on the left-over land on the rear side of the central stupa. We would also make sitting arrangements for visitors. Several drinking water outlets are also being developed,” the officer said. He added that plans are afoot to have light-and-sound shows and construct small stupas on the granite blocks inside the park.

BUIDCo would also float tenders soon for firm(s) for automated parking of vehicles at the multi-level parking facility adjacent to the shrine. The four-floor parking structure would accommodate 320 vehicles at a time.