The Maitreya Buddha Statue is one of the tallest and oldest Buddha statues in the world. This grandiose creation is located in the Chinese province of Sichuan, near the city of Leshan. For more than a thousand years, the gaze of the statue, 71 meters high, has been directed to the sacred Mount Emeishan located opposite. The figure of God is visible for several tens of kilometers.
Until the middle of the 17th century, the body of the Big Buddha to the very head was hidden by thirteen floors of the Dasyange wooden temple, which protects the shrine from rain and snow. Later, this building was destroyed by a strange fire, which could not be extinguished, despite all efforts. After that, the Buddha, in all his stone beauty and divine steadfastness, appeared before the eyes of ordinary mortals.
Construction of the statue began during the Tang Dynasty and lasted for 90 years. According to legend, by erecting a sacred monument, the monk Hai Tun wanted to appease the element of water, because too often local residents fell victim to turbulent rivers.
It is worth noting that the very name of the province "Sichuan" is translated as "Four Rivers". The monk chose a place for the monument in a rock near the confluence of two rivers - Minjiang and Daduhe. For the next 20 years, Hai Tun traveled through the lands of China and collected donations for the construction of the statue. In 713, when the required amount was collected, the monk returned to Sichuan to start implementing his plans.
But before he could start making his dream come true, government officials came to him and demanded half of the collected donations in exchange for support from the local government for the construction. The monk's answer was short and clear: "I'd rather gouge out my eyes than give away the Buddha's treasures." When the extortionists came to Hai Tun again, he fulfilled his oath by drawing a knife and stripping himself of one eye. Confused and disgruntled officials decided to leave the old man alone, but not help him in his endeavors either.
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By the time of Hai Tun's death, the statue was completed only to the knees, but the monk's work was continued by his disciples, and by 803 the statue of Buddha Maitreya was completed. Carving the monument in the rocks, the workers threw the stone fragments into the river. Over time, this reduced the intensity of the water flow. Thus, it turned out that the Buddha still tamed the harsh nature of turbulent rivers.
Currently, the statue of Buddha Maitreya is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List and attracts many tourists and pilgrims from all over the world. Some are looking for answers here, others - for healing, and still others come for the sake of contemplation of divine majesty, which cannot even destroy time.