In the hills not far from Wuxi stands 88-meter tall Liang Shan Buddha:
To get a sense of just how immense this statue is, consider the people on the staircase in the photo.
Looking down from the base of the Buddha, one can see the expanse of the valley and temple complex below:
In the temple courtyard, there is a scale replica, which one can view in alignment:
There is also a full-size copy of the Buddha’s hand. One is supposed to walk a full circuit while remaining in contact with the hand for good luck, and the wear from countless visitors is clearly visible.
I did the full circuit around the hand, and we’ll see how that works out…
The Liang Shan Buddha is not an ancient construction, but rather recent project sponsored by the Chinese government with some private donations. There is a certain over-the-top feel to the entire complex, almost like a Buddhist amusement park, with a huge parking lot, busses, etc. They have also built a large “palace” with rather gaudy devotional art. The huge circular meditation hall in the center was less ornate, with it’s arrangement of seats and geometric design, though they did have a constantly changing light show in the domed ceiling:
Not being a Buddhist, I don’t really have much interpretation of these aspects of the center. But certainly, the giant Buddha itself is impressive.
Nice pics. Thanks for sharing. Amar, you take such good pictures and descriptions that I feel like I’m on the trip too. :o)
The ceiling is pretty.
It might not be ancient but it’s still pretty cool. Although, yeah, it would be cooler if it were.
Wow, you can see where the hands have left a mark – that is pretty awesome. At first when you look at the giant Buddha, you don’t get just how big it is, until you see the people, and it makes you stop and go, “wow, that’s impressive!”. Nice photos!
Holy…
The tallest such statue I ever saw was in Kanyakumari, the southernmost tip of India. But this one, at 88 meters, just takes the cake.
My next stop on the travel map has got to be China. A couple of friends I met in Univ. of Buffalo two years ago have told me way too many wonderful stories to not go there..
Thanks for these pics btw. Pretty awesome.
Love the giant Buddah. The view up there is awesome 🙂
I hope your trip around the Big Hand brings you great luck too 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
Amazing! Size does matter I guess 🙂