Published by: World Tibet Network News, Monday, March 11, 1996

BEIJING, March 11 (Reuter) - Tibet has unveiled a 1,575 square metre (17,150 sq ft) Buddhist scroll painting thought to be the largest of its kind in the deeply religious Himalayan region, the Xinhua news agency said on Monday.

The gargantuan work, measuring 45 metres (148 ft) high and 35 metres (115 ft) wide and weighing three tonnes, cost 20 million yuan ($2.4 million) and took 15 months to complete, the agency said.

The painting, a traditional Tibetan tangka unveiled in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, shows the founder of Buddhism Sakyamuni and other religious figures and is scheduled to be shown at an exhibition of Tibetan culture in the United States, it said.

Tangkas usually depict people or events of spiritual or historical significance and are used as teaching and meditation aids by Tibetans.