Cristo Rei Statua

Cristo Rei of Dili or Christ the King of Dili
is a 88.6 foot (27 m) tall statue of Jesus
located atop a globe in Dili , East Timor.
This statue was designed by Mochamad
Syailillah, who is usually called Bolil. The
statue was officially unveiled by Suharto in
1996 as gift from the Indonesian
government to the East Timorese people.
The statue has been one of the main tourist
sites in East Timor.
The statue, and the globe on which it rests,
are situated at the end of Fatucama
peninsula facing out to the ocean and can
be reached by climbing some 500 steps.
The statue of Cristo Rei (Christ the King)
stands over the Dili harbor
History
The idea of raising the Cristo Rei statue was
proposed by José Abilio Osorio Soares
(former Governor of Timor-Timur (Timor
Leste) in Indonesian occupation) to
Soeharto (former President of Republic
Indonesia). The statue was intended as a
present for the 20th anniversary of East
Timor ‘s Integration to Indonesia.
Soeharto appointed the Director of Garuda
air to lead the project. Garuda was given
the responsibility to find capital for funding
the project which then prepared 1.1 Billion
Rupiah (US$ 123,000),however it cannot
affor sufficient fund for the total needs in
setting up the statue. Then the
contributions of East Timorese civil servants
and businessmen able to complete the
project which took the cost more than 5
Billion Rupiah (US$ 559,000).
It took almost a year of working to create
the body of statue which was done in
Sukaraja, Bandung, Indonesia. 30 crew
workers were employed for the project. The
body of statue was made with copper plate
which separated into 27 pieces of
components. These pieces are loaded into
three trailer which then shipped to Dili.
Reconstruction of the statue included the
globe and a 10 meters high Cross took as
long as three months.
An aerial view of the Cristo Rei Circular
walks 8kms and 12kms respectively
Many East Timor resistance leaders
criticised the construction of Cristo Rei
statue. They said it was a politic
propaganda of Jakarta to deceive East
Timorese people. However, the greatness of
the statue has eliminate all prejudices and
it has become a landmark of Dili – East
Timor .
The statue was unveiled on 15 October
1996. MGR Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo,SDB
with former President Soeharto and former
Governor of Timor Timur (Timor-Leste) José
Abilio Osorio Soares directly witnessed the
splendor of this statue from the air using a
helicopter. ( Wiki)