Let's see which statue is currently the tallest in the world:
The Spring Temple Buddha is the largest statue on the planet. She depicts the Buddha Vairochana - this is one of the five sacred Buddhas who personify wisdom. the statue is located in the village of Zhaocun in China. The idea of erecting such an original shrine arose after the Taliban blew up two huge statues of Buddha in Afghanistan, and the Chinese reacted very harshly to this event.
At the same time, they decided to erect a majestic statue in Henan province, which would fully convey the respectful attitude of the Chinese towards the Buddhist heritage.
The construction of the unique giant was very quick and finished in 2002. The height of the Spring Buddha is 128 meters, of which 20 meters is the foot in the form of a lotus flower, and the remaining 108 is the Buddha statue itself. All this grandiose structure stands on a 25-meter pedestal.
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In 2010, the hill on which the statue was erected was transformed into two large stone steps, thus, the height of the entire structure from the top to the very base is 208 meters, this fact was registered in the Guinness Book of Records.
For the manufacture of the statue itself, 33 tons of copper, 108 kilograms of gold and 15 thousand tons of special steel were used. It was created from separate parts, which were then assembled into one whole, in total there were about 1100 such pieces. The cost of the Spring Buddha is about $ 18 million, and the cost of the entire project is $ 55 million.
It is impossible not to mention another record holder, who is very close to the Buddha of the Spring Temple. It is the largest operating bell in the world.
Near the statue, at the peak of the Head of the Dragon, there is a belfry.
It is in it that the "Bell of Fortune" is located. Its dimensions are as follows: diameter at the widest point - 5.12 meters, height - 8.11 meters, weight - 116 tons. In terms of weight and diameter, the Bell of Fortune is inferior to the Tsar Bell on Red Square, in height it is superior. But since the Moscow Tsar Bell has never rung in its life, the Bell of Fortune becomes the world's largest operating bell.
The final plan for the construction of the Buddha Spring Temple was approved shortly after the Taliban destroyed the ancient Bamiyan Buddha statue in Afghanistan. China strongly condemned the barbaric destruction of Afghanistan's Buddhist heritage.
Foot of the Buddha of the Spring Temple At the foot of the giant statue there is an equally grand staircase - it consists of 365 steps, and is divided into 12 flights. The number of steps symbolizes the annual life cycle.
The name of the monument "Buddha of the Spring Temple" comes from the Tianju hot spring, which is located nearby, water in it erupts from the depths at a temperature of 60 ° C, and has healing properties. Foshan Temple, built during the Tang Dynasty in China, sits at the top of Dragon's Head Peak. The world's largest bronze bell weighing 116 tons is installed there.
To imagine the scale of the statue of Buddha of the Spring Temple, one can compare the size of other famous monuments in the world: the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, reaches a height of 38 meters, the Statue of Liberty in New York with a pedestal - 93 m, the Motherland in Volgograd - 87 m.