Where is one of the world's biggest statues?

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Leshan City.

Leshan Giant Buddha was carved out of a cliff located at Lingyun Mountain in Leshan City, Sichuan Province. Even outgrows by 18 meters than the Bamiyan Buddha in Afghanistan, which was once claimed to be the biggest in the world, Leshan Giant Buddha is the largest stone-carved sitting Buddha statue in the world up to now. On December, 1996, Leshan Giant Buddha was approved by the UNESCO as Heritage of World Culture and Nature.

Leshan Giant Buddha, belongs to the Tang artistic style, is a sitting statue of Maitreya. Its overall height is 71 meters. Its shoulders are 28 meters wide, head 14.7 metes long and 10 meters broad, with a total of 1021 chignons of hair clustered on it. Each is as big as a round table. Its drooping ear is 6.2 meters long, its eye 3.3 meters wide.

The Leshan Buddha has suffered from hundreds of years of erosion by atmospheric moisture and water running off from the mountain. Despite these minor areas of damage, the statue is surprisingly intact – thanks to its ancient, internal and hidden water drainage system. Several drainage passages are hidden in the Buddha’s chignons, collar, chest, and holes in the back of its ears and chest. These holes and caves prevent the Buddha from serious erosion and weathering. Up until now, it has been well preserved for over 1, 200 years.

If you visit Leshan City and want to take a close look at this huge statue, you can step onto the breathtaking plank road alongside the cliff. At the top of the cliff, level with the head of the Buddha is a veranda. Here you can relax and see some details of the Buddha’s head. Once you descend the passageway, you can walk to the feet of Buddha. As you stand at the instep of the Buddha and look up at the majestic figure. It is impossible not to feel in awe at the unparalleled skill of the ancient sculptors.

You can also board a tourist ferry to get a panoramic view of the Buddha from the river for quite a different experience.

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