1) Spring Temple Buddha – Henan, China
At number one, welcome back our regular visitor, Mr Buddha. For a change. We’re in China, again. This mother stretches up to a sky scratching height of 128 metres (153m if you include it’s building/pedestal thing) and depicts a Variocana Buddha which is a celestial type of Buddha who for some Buddhists embodies the concept of emptiness, OK?
The statue was completed in 2002 and it is mighty impressive by anyone’s standards. Planning of the beast started as a reaction to the Taliban’s destruction of Buddhist culture in Afghanistan. It’s a bit of an odd move really, most communist regimes are automatically atheist. I guess no one likes the Taliban.
The whole cost of the monastery and statue came to the princely sum of $55 million and the copper statue ways 1,000 tonnes or there abouts.
A pretty impressive bunch I think you’ll agree.
☛ More: Moody Photos Of Abandoned Buildings By Niki Feijen
