Leshan Giant Buddha Statue

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His ears are seven meters long, his shoulders are wide enough to play basketball on them and to reach his toes I needed to climb down several steps from his head. And he is not even standing. The Leshan Giant Buddha Statue is a 71 meters high carved stone statue of a Buddhist Bodhisattva called Maitreya.

Construction work began back in the year 713, in the Tang Dynasty. The initiator of the project was a monk called Hai Tong. He planned the statue to calm the river spirits that have caused plenty of boat accidents at the confluence of the Qingyi River, Min River and Dadu River.

The construction was busy for 90 years and in the end the strong current had actually calmed down. Probably that also had to do with all the stones and rocks that had fallen into the rivers while the construction took part. This made the river less deep and with it the strong currents significantly more mild.

In these days plenty of visitors visit the Giant Buddha of Leshan by foot or boat. A stairway is caved in the rock and leads them down from the head towards the toes. When I stood in the middle of pushing and chatting tourists I felt so small and unimportant. But the soft smile of the statue gave me the peace and calmness that only can be given by a Buddha Statue.