Wednesday November 5, 2014

We taxied to the Grand Buddha attraction which includes the world’s largest stone Buddha, along with other Buddha’s and a few temples spread over a large area. It was a fascinating look into Buddhism and complemented our previous trip to the Labrang Tibetan Monastery. Once again we felt like we were exploring a huge museum with so many interesting and beautiful pieces of art. Fortunately there were no restrictions with picture taking as we strolled through the temples where religious prayer was in progress along with many burning candles, incense, and offerings taking place. Since we didn’t return to our hotel until mid-afternoon we decided to spend another night in Leshan.

From Wikipedia:

The Leshan Giant Buddha is a 71-metre (233 ft) tall stone statue, built during the Tang Dynasty. It is carved out of a cliff face that lies at the confluence of the Minjiang, Dadu and Qingyi rivers in the southern part of Sichuan province in China, near the city of Leshan. The stone sculpture faces Mount Emei, with the rivers flowing below his feet. It is the largest stone Buddha in the world and it is by far the tallest pre-modern statue in the world.

At 71 meters (233 ft) tall, the statue depicts a seated Maitreya Buddha with his hands resting on his knees. His shoulders are 28 meters wide and his smallest toenail is large enough to easily accommodate a seated person. There is a local saying: “The mountain is a Buddha and the Buddha is a mountain”. This is partially because the mountain range in which the Leshan Giant Buddha is located is thought to be shaped like a slumbering Buddha when seen from the river, with the Leshan Giant Buddha as its heart.

Construction was started in 713, led by a Chinese monk named Haitong. He hoped that the Buddha would calm the turbulent waters that plagued the shipping vessels traveling down the river. When funding for the project was threatened, he is said to have gouged out his own eyes to show his piety and sincerity. After his death, however, the construction was stuck due to insufficient funding. About 70 years later, a jiedushi decided to sponsor the project and the construction was completed by Haitong’s disciples in 803.