The Leshan Giant Buddha

The Leshan Giant Buddha

• Largest stone Buddha in the world. 
• Located not far from Chengdu, in Sichuan province, China. 
• Aged over 1300 years old. 
• The statue sits at the junction of three rivers, Min river, Qingyi river, and Dadu river. 
• It was a statue honouring Maitreya and worshipping him was popular around 4th and 7th centuries. 
• The entire of the statue is made of stone, except for the ears that made from wood, then affixed and covered in clay.
• The Buddha's hair is arranged with special spiralled circles with 1021 twist that have been embedded to the head.
• If the statue stood upright, it would be almost eye to eye with The Statue of Liberty. 
•  71 meters tall, 15 meters high, 28 meters wide, each eyebrow of 5.5 meters, nose of 6 meters long and ears measuring of 7 meters. 
• Drain passage are also built inside the Buddha's hair,collar, chest and back of ears have prevented it from erosion and weather through the millennium.
• The statue once sat in a 13-story wooden pavilion before it is destroyed at the end of Ming dynasty and letting the statue expose. 
• The statue was believed to be built for calming the water that killed many people every years.
• The project of building this statue started at 713 AD by Hai Tong. 
• It was completed 90 years later by the local governor at 803 AD. 
  
• Today, erosion is the biggest threat to The Leshan Giant Buddha. 
• It was nearly destroyed by erosion and wind before 1963, when Chinese government began to repair and protect it. 
• The World Heritage Community of UNESCO inscribed Mount Emei Scenic area and The Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area on the wold heritage list. 
• Since 2001, it was rumoured that the government has spent about $40 million dollars preserving it.