We were cruising on a boat gazing landwards from the river. In front of us is a giant Buddha which one would not be able to see the whole statue from the landside.
The Buddha at 233 feet high was carved into rock during the Tang Dynasty. It was the tallest premodern statue, located near the city of Leshan in Sichuan, China.
The view was awesome. On the left hand side of the Buddha, there were hundreds of people hanging on to the many flights of stairs trying to have a good view of the Buddha from a close distance. They appeared so tiny, so tiny that they just looked like ants.
It is believe that this giant Buddha was carved at this location to pacify the turbulent waters of the river.
On the right side near the bottom, there were other figures carved into rock. They are smaller, but still, they reach almost to the knees of the Buddha.
I can think of other giant statues, say, those in Abu Simbel in Egypt. However, by comparison, they are not as tall.
The Buddha, sitting there, looks serene. One just wonders how much carving has to be carried out so that the Buddha was well recessed from the rock face.
So, another amazing view!
retireediary 