Garden of One Thousand Buddhas

A Native American reservation in Montana is not the first place one might think to find a Buddhist shrine, but the Garden of One Thousand Buddhas brings more than its share of devotion to the table.

Established as an international center for peace in 2000, the 750-foot circular monument sits on ten acres of rich natural land comprising the garden. The statuary is arranged in the formation of a “wheel of dharma” meant to represent the “Noble Eightfold Path” which encompasses the eternal cycle of life, death, and rebirth. Eight symmetrical concrete spokes radiate from a central shrine where a colorful 24-foot statue of Yum Chenmo, the Great Mother, sits in peace. Each of the eight spokes is topped with a portion of the titular thousand Buddha statues, which are constructed of stark, white concrete. When each of the lines of statues is complete they will feature 125 of the meditating figures in perfect symmetry. The inner wheel is surrounded by two semi-circular walls which are themselves already adorned with 1000 identical white stupas, or temple effigies.

The Garden of One Thousand Buddhas is meant to represent the 1000 Buddhas that it is believed will actually be born in our religious age, was born from the vision of Gochen Tulku Sang-ngag Rinpoche who purchased the property and set his plan into motion.

After approval from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe and with the participation of volunteers from the community to cast the Buddhas, all one thousand were finally completed in 2016.