Buddha

Buddha. . , In 1936, a year after Jungle Gardens opened to the public, two of McIlhenny's friends, Robert M. Youngs and Ernest B. Tracy of New York City, presented him with a magnificent Buddha statue that they hoped would find an ideal home among his Asian flora., Youngs and Tracy found the statue in a Manhattan warehouse, where it apparently had been stored for some time. Where the statue came from and how it got there is unclear, but oral tradition holds that it was made by twelfth- century emperor and artist Hui-tsung and sent to the U.S. by a rebel Chinese general later caught and executed. Regardless, when the Buddha finally arrived on Avery Island, McIlhenny wrote to Youngs and Tracy, saying he knew right where he would place the statue., Mcllhenny set about building a garden for the Buddha. He dug a lagoon and beside it erected a rocky mound topped by a small temple designed in a bamboo motif. Inside the temple he placed the statue on a lotus blossom pedestal made of wood and copper. He landscaped the area using many rare and beautiful Asian plants. Mcllhenny surrounded the mound with Chinese juniper and bamboos. To complement the temple, he constructed seven hills, each about ten feet in height, and planted in a distinct color of Chinese azalea. Finally, he built an arched stone bridge over the lagoon and lined its banks with Chinese iris, creating a placid reflecting pool. Enclosed in such a charming environment, the Buddha quickly became a focal point for Jungle Gardens' visitors.