During January, the crafts people of Amaravati, supported by the local government, were constructing an enormous statue of the Amitaba Buddha in commemoration of the Kalachakra Ceremony.

It was astonishing to see young men climbing up shaky scaffolding, working through the night under dangerous conditions.

"Amitābha is a celestial Buddha described in the scriptures of Mahāyāna Buddhism. According to these scriptures, Amitābha is a Buddha possessing infinite merits resulting from good deeds over countless past lives as a bodhisattva. He lives in another world, a "Pure Land" (Chinese 净土 jìngtŭ) called Sukhāvatī (Sanskrit for "possessing happiness") situated in the uttermost west, beyond the bounds of our own world. By the power of his vows, Amitābha has made it possible for all who call upon him to be reborn into this land, there to undergo instruction by him in the dharma and ultimately become bodhisattvas and Buddhas in their turn (the ultimate goal of Mahāyāna Buddhism)."
Wikipedia