LESHAN, CHINA: The Sarawak media visited the Leshan Giant Buddha in Leshan city which took over two-hour drive from Chengdu on the third day.
The remarkable Leshan Giant Buddha (Da Fo) was listed as UNESCO World Heritage Site together with Mount Emei in 1996. The stone Buddha was carved in the 8th century AD out of the hillside of Xijuo Peak.
Facing the confluence of the Minjiang, Dadu and Qingyi Rivers, Leshan Giant Buddha is the tallest Buddha sculpture in the world with a height of 71m. Leshan Giant Buddha is 18m taller than Bamyan Buddhas in Afghanistan. Also, it is much taller than the famous Buddha of Yungang Grottoes and Vairocana Buddha of Longmen Grottoes.
The construction of the big Buddha was the idea of a Chinese monk called Haitong, who hoped that Buddha would calm the turbulent waters (Min River, Qingyi River and Dudu River) that plagued the shipping vessels traveling down the river.
His plans were not just supernatural, the enormous amount rubble carved away from the cliff would be deposited in the river, altering the currents and calming the waters. He went to many places to raise the money and when he got back to begin the construction, the local government came and threatened.
Haitong is said to have gouged out his own eyes to show his piety and sincerity. Hence, Leshan Giant Buddha was first constructed in the year of 713 AD in Tang Dynasty. Haitong passed away when the big Buddha was cultivated to shoulders and the construction was stuck due to insufficient funding.
Many years later, a Sichuan Jiedushi sponsored and Haitong’s disciple began to continue. In the year of 803 in Tang Dynasty, Leshan Giant Buddha was finally finished under the hard work by three generation of craftsmen for 90 years. Till now, this engineering masterpiece has a history over 1300 years.
‘The Mountain is a Buddha and the Buddha is a Mountain’ – the solemn Leshan Giant Buddha is calmly sitting on the cliff of Xijiao Hill, putting his hands on his knees, with the rivers flowing below his feet.
Standing 71m tall, Da Fo is the tallest Buddha statue in the world. His head is 14.7m in height and 10m in width. The Buddha’s hair is arranged in special spiralled curls with 1,021 twists that have been skilfully embedded in the head. He has 7m long ears which are capable of holding two people inside, 5.6m long nose as well as 5.6m long eyebrow.
The width of mouth and eye is 3.3m, neck (3m tall), shoulder (24m wide) and finger (8.3m long). It is 28m from his knees to his instep. Moreover, his instep is about 8.5m in width where can accommodate about a hundred people and even his smallest toenail can accommodate a seated person.
According to Buddhist tradition, Maitreya is a bodhisattva who will appear on Earth in the future, achieve complete enlightenment, and teach the pure dharma. According to scriptures, Maitreya will be a successor to the present Buddha, Gautama Buddha (also known as Úâkyamuni Buddha).
The statue of Leshan Buddha is believed to be Maitreya Buddha. It was popular to construct the statue of Maitreya before Song Dynasty. But, it was reduced in Tang Dynasty for the political reason.
In Sichuan, the earliest Maitreya Statue was Thousand-Buddha Cliff in Guangyuan which was built in 706. There is many other Maitreya Buddha in Sichuan, including Thousand-Buddha Cliff in Jiajiang, Thousand-Buddha Village and Sleeping Buddha Valley in Anyue. Leshan Giant Buddha is the mark of popularity of Maitreya Buddha in Chinese Buddhism history.
A few years ago, it was discovered that Wuyou Mountain, Lingyun Moutain and Guicheng Mountain behind the Giant Buddha had composed a shape of sleep Buddha, thus this was called the Giant Sleeping Buddha.
The head of the Giant Sleeping Buddha is Wuyou Mountain, while the stone, bamboo forest and temple on the mountain have composed the five senses organs on the head. The body of the Sleeping Buddha is the Lingyun Mountain, and Guicheng Mountain is the foot. The whole Sleeping Buddha is over 4000m from south to north, with its head in the south direction.
