In 1936, a year after Jungle Gardens opened to the public, two of Mcllhenny'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, Mcllhenny 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. (Marker Number 8.)
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