Big Buddha and a holy mountain. by budapest8
Leshan BuddhaBrief Description
The first Buddhist temple in China was built here in Sichuan Province in the 1st century
A.D. in the beautiful surroundings of the summit Mount Emei.
The addition of other temples turned the site into one of Buddhism's holiest sites.
Over the centuries, the cultural treasures grew in number.
The most remarkable is the Giant Buddha of Leshan, carved out of a hillside in the 8th
century and looking down on the confluence of three rivers.
At 71 m high, it is the largest Buddha in the world.
Mount Emei is also notable for its exceptionally diverse vegetation, ranging from
subtropical to subalpine pine forests. Some of the trees there are more than
1,000 years old.
The Leshan Giant Buddha, Sichuan Province, China was begun in 713,
during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and completed in the 19th year of Emperor Dezong
(803 AD). At 71 meters (220 feet), it is the largest stone sculpture of Buddha in the world.
It sits at the confluence of the Minjiang, Dadu and Qingyi rivers.
The statue is in the UNESCO inventory, listed in 1996 as a World Cultural and Natural
Heritage Site. It is currently being refurbished and the Chinese government has taken
steps to minimize the environmental impact on the statue. The World Bank has offered
US$8 million in interest-free loans for the maintenance and protection of the Buddha.
The Buddha was originally covered by a wooden structure,
but has been exposed to the weather since the building
The statue is of Maitreyanot, a disciple of Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism.
