Leshan Giant Buddha

Location
Leshan City，Sichuan Province，China
 

Highlight

The Largest Carved Buddha Statue in the World，built in Tang Dynasty （AD618-907）and took almost 90 years to accomplish.
 

• High season(more visitors）April 1st~October 7th : 7:30a.m. ~ 6:30p.m.

•  Low season（less visitors）October 8th~March 31st ：8:00a.m. ~ 5:30p.m.
  
   

Basics of Leshan Giant Buddha

1.It takes the shape of a Maitreya Buddha, a disciple of Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism.

2.It occupies the entire hillside. Its head reaches the top of the cliffs. His hands rest on his knees.

3. The Buddha is 71 meters high.

4.Its head is 14.7 meters long and 10 meters wide, with a total of 1021 buns of hair clustered on it.

5.Its dropping ear is 6.2 meters long and each is 3.3 meters wide.

Story Behind the Giant Buddha

Minjiang river, Qingyi river, Dadu river from the high mountains in Qinghai-Tibetan plateau converge in the east of Leshan Lingyun Mountain and flow to the east.The confluence of the three rivers is spectacular to watch.
　
One thousand three hundred years ago, the three rivers were far less gentle than they are today.Every summer, the water at the confluence area would be very turbulent. Many boat crashed and sailors were dead. A monk named Haitong in Lingyun Temple witnessed so many tragedies and vowed to build a Maitreya statue to bless the people and subdue the evils in the water. He spent his whole for this commitment and his disciple continued his legacy.After 90 years, the effort of generations, the Buddha finished.Large quantities of stone had been poured into the river. The water level rose and the riverbed widened, so the violent water became docile and boats no longer faced danger in this confluence.

Other eye-catching spots when visit Giant Buddha

I.Mahao Cliff Tombs
Mahao Cliff Tombs can be dated back to Han dynasty. Tombs those are open to public is a large tomb with three caves.Fine carving, cornices, tiles, brackets, decorative patterns are everywhere inside the tomb without any resemblance. Many historical stories and animal embossments are carved on the tomb wall.They are precious materials for studying ancient architecture carving, folk custom and religion.

II.Lingyun Monastery
Lingyun Monastery is older than the Buddha. In its vast history, it had been destroyed and rebuilt many times. Now Lingyun Monastery has opened "Leshan Giant Buddha Exhibition Hall", which displays a large number of real objects, documents, pictures and models, showing the 90-year construction history of Leshan Giant Buddha and the history of protection and maintenance,proving that Leshan Giant Buddha is worthy of being a world art treasure.

III.Wuyou Mountain
The Wuyou Mountain on the other side of Lingyun Mountain is surrounded by water. It is a lonely peak with lush foliage and thick green bamboos. The Wuyou Monastery on the mountain was built in the middle of the Tang Dynasty. On the side of the monastery is Arhats Hall. There are more than 500 clay sculptured Buddha statues of Arhats.