Originally posted by MikeNArk Interesting historical context. Some of the objects in front of the Buddha give perspective to its size. Nice capture.
It's an amazing place to visit. I should have included some umbers from Wikipedia - it is 15m high (about 50 feet) and weighs about 500 tons. It's amazing to think that it's over 1200 years old.
Originally posted by angkymac Fascinating to consider! Especially given the history and the context. Glad you shared this picture.
Thank you! This building is the third one to house the daibutsu. Two earlier ones burned down. There is a smaller daibutsu in Kamakura from the 13th century which has a story that sounds like a Monty Python script - the first building housing the original wooden daibutsu was destroyed by a storm in about 1250, so they built a new one with a bronze daibutsu. That second building was destroyed by a storm, so they built a third one. That was washed away by a tsunami in 1498. So they decided that Buddha wanted to sit outside and he has been in the open ever since.