100,000 Stupa Project

Rising from a verdant meadow with a Bodhi tree planted to the west, we are building a replica of the holy Mahabodhi Stupa – the site of the Buddha’s enlightenment in Bodh Gaya, India and one of the holiest Buddhist pilgrimage sites in the world. This stupa will inspire all who see it to find refuge in the gentle path of wisdom, compassion, and peace.

As you walk the path from our Great Prayer Wheel to the upper part of our land you will encounter this venerable stupa, an icon of peace rising from an open meadow. Standing nearly forty feet tall, this stupa will be the central axis of a mandala which will offer sites to sit and meditate, thousands of memorial stupas, gardens grown as offerings to the Buddha, places to perform prostrations, ponds with places for peaceful travelers to rest and reflect.

The purpose of this stupa is to serve as an inspiration and a blessing to all who visit it. Simply seeing, making prostrations, or circumambulating the stupa will be of benefit to all.

The vision for a 100,000 Stupa Project emerged in the late 1990’s. Tangible progress began in 1999. In the following decade, extensive architectural planning and land analysis work was done to build the 11,000 sq. ft. building modeled after the great Borabudur in Java, Indonesia.

In 2011, after years of working on planning for the Borabudur Stupa, and finding many obstacles, Rinpoche met with Khadro la and it was observed that building a replica of the Mahabodhi would be the best plan to move quickly to get our stupa built. At that time, Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche became the central pillar to our Founders Mandala by pledging $50,000 to support the building of our stupa. Research and planning was underway in 2012. In January of 2013, the Chew family from Singapore became the second members of our Founders Mandala, followed by the John and Lucille Cayton family bequest. We are looking for more visionaries to join us bringing the building of this great project to completion.

After only a year of design and engineering, in January 2014 we received our permit approval to build the stupa at Land of Medicine Buddha!

The bhumi puja (earth blessing) was held on Friday, April 25, 2014, and on the following Monday, April 28, 2014 construction began.

Two years later, on May 22, 2016, we filled the 9th and final chamber of the central tower. Many hands helped pass along the holy objects – sutras, mantras, tsa-tsas, etc. – from the truck, up the ladders, all the way to the top.

Our artist built the Namgyal stupa at the top of our stupa and began working to apply all of the decorative facades to the Mahabodhi.

In 2019 we built the first of the three planned mandala walls which will serve as a location for the thousands of stupas to be dedicated

We continue to cast stupas, work in the gardens and apply decorations.