Leshan Giant Buddha

Leshan Giant Buddha is largest Buddha sculpture in the world, located on the West side of Xiluan Peak (Phoenix Perched Peak) of Mount Lingyun in Sichuan Province. There is a local laudatory saying "The mountain unveils a Buddha, while the Buddha fades into the mountain."

The Giant Buddha is originally constructed in 713 AD, finally being finished in 803 AD. It was the idea of a Chinese monk named Haitong, who hoped that the Buddha would calm the turbulent waters that plagued the shipping vessetraveling down the river.

The statue depicts a seated Maitreya Buddha with his hands resting on his knees. Maitreya is the future Buddha, who will appear to preach the dharma when the teachings of Gautama Buddha have faded away. The figure sit in the hillside. Its head reaches the top of the cliffs, his hands rest on his knees and his face has a serene expression as it gazes at Leshan city across the river which rushes past its feet.

Looking solemn and stately, the Buddha is 71 meters high. His shoulders are 28 meters wide, head 14.7 metes long and 10 meters broad, with a total of 1021 chignons of hair clustered on it. Each is as big as a round table. Its drooping ear is 6.2 meters long, its eye 3.3 meters wide. Its middle finger is 8.3 meters long, and each of its bare feet are 11 meters long and 8.5 meters wide, large enough for more than 100 people to sit on.

The Leshan Giant Buddha is taller by 18 meters than the standing Buddha in Afghanistan, which were badly damaged by in 2001 and is believed to be the world's largest and tallest sculpture of a Buddha carved in rock. In December, 1996, the location of the Buddha was included by UNESCO on the list of the World Heritage sites.


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