Great Stupa brings Buddhism to Australia's bush

Pagoda will hold one of the world's top collections of the faith's sacred relics

20181222 stupa 3 tibetan snow lions

These marble Tibetan snow lions were carved in Vietnam for Bendigo's Great Stupa. (Photo by Geoff Hiscock)

GEOFF HISCOCK, Contributing writer

MELBOURNE -- Shimmering white against the bright blue Australian sky, in a quiet corner of bushland 160 km northwest of Melbourne, a large concrete structure that is home to one of the most important artifacts in the Buddhist world is taking shape.

This is the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, guarded at its entrance by two marble Tibetan snow lions, vibrant in red, yellow and green, and ringed by scores of bronze prayer wheels.

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