The copper statue, depicting the hero with a grove of bamboo in his hand flying onto the sky on his horse, is one of the major projects to celebrate the millennial founding anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi in 2010.

The statute and items around it are scheduled to be completed by September 2010, in time for the celebrations to mark the capital city’s birthday.

The project, jointly carried out by the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha and the Hanoi People’s Committee, required a total investment of nearly 60 billion VND (3.1 million USD), half of which was spent on the cast.

The casting of the statue began in October 2009 and was completed in March 2010. Parts of the statute were carried to the Da Chong Mountain for installation from May this year.

Legend has it that Giong was born after his mother tried to fit her feet into the footprints of a giant in the field.

At the age of three, he suddenly grew into a giant himself, when invaders attacked the country. He asked the king for an iron horse and promptly chased the invaders out of the country with an iron sword, wielding entire groves of bamboo. After that, he and his horse flew into the sky from Soc Mountain in Soc Son district.