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Kōtoku-in building in Kamakura

Kōtoku-in

Building in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan


Kōtoku-in is a Buddhist temple of the Jōdo-shū sect, in the city of Kamakura in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Its mountain name is Taiizan, and its common temple name is Shōjōsen-ji.


Quick Facts

Religion, Affiliation ...

Kōtoku-in


Affiliation

Jōdo-shū


Deity

Amitābha


Location

4 Chome-2-28 Hase, Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture 248-0016


Country

Japan


Architecture

Completed

1252 (Daibutsu)


Website

kotoku-in.jp/en


The temple is renowned for The Great Buddha of Kamakura, a monumental outdoor bronze statue of Amitābha, which is one of the most famous icons of Japan. It is also a designated National Treasure, and one of the twenty-two historic sites included in Kamakura's proposal for inclusion in UNESCO's World Heritage Sites.


The Great Buddha (Kamakura Daibutsu)


The Great Buddha of Kamakura, cast in the 13th century


The Great Buddha of Kamakura, Kamakura Daibutsu) is a large bronze statue of Amitābha, located on the temple grounds. Including the base, it measures 13.35 metres (43.8 ft) tall and weighs approximately 93 tonnes (103 tons). According to temple records, the statue dates from around 1252, during the Kamakura period, which it is named after.


The statue is hollow, and visitors can view the interior. Many visitors have left graffiti on the inside of the statue. At one time, there were thirty-two bronze lotus petals at the base of the statue, but only four remain, and they are no longer in place. A notice at the entrance to the grounds reads, "Stranger, whosoever thou art and whatsoever be thy creed, when thou enterest this sanctuary remember thou treadest upon ground hallowed by the worship of ages. This is the Temple of Buddha and the gate of the eternal, and should therefore be entered with reverence."


History

The current bronze statue was preceded by a giant wooden Buddha, which was completed in 1243 after ten years of continuous labor, the funds having been raised by Lady Inada no Tsubone and the Buddhist priest Jōkō of Tōtōmi. That wooden statue was damaged by a storm in 1248, and the hall containing it was destroyed, so Jōkō suggested making a new statue of bronze, and the huge amount of money necessary for this and a new hall was raised for the project. The bronze image was probably cast by Ōno Gorōemon or Tanji Hisatomo, both leading casters of the time. At one time, the statue was gilded. There are still traces of gold leaf near the statue's ears.


The hall was destroyed by a storm in 1334, was rebuilt, was damaged by yet another storm in 1369, and was rebuilt yet again. The last building housing the statue was washed away in the tsunami resulting from the Nankai earthquake of 20 September 1498, during the Muromachi period. Since then, the Great Buddha has stood in the open air.


The 1923 Great Kantō earthquake destroyed the base the statue sits upon, but the base was repaired in 1925. Repairs to the statue were carried out in 1960–61, when the neck was strengthened and measures were taken to protect it from earthquakes. In early 2016, further research, restoration, and preservation work was performed on the statue.



Measurements

Weight: 121 tonnes (267,000 pounds)


Height: 13.35 metres (43.8 ft)


Length of face: 2.35 metres (7 ft 9 in)


Length of eye: 1.0 metre (3 ft 3 in)


Length of mouth: 0.82 metres (2 ft 8 in)


Length of ear: 1.90 metres (6 ft 3 in)


Length from knee to knee: 9.10 metres (29.9 ft)


Circumference of thumb: 0.85 metres (2 ft 9 in)


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Aasi pi Buddha (Eighty feets Buddha)


The Great Buddha statue is one of the popular stops on the Buddhist pilgrimage and tourist routes in Bodh Gaya, Bihar (India). The statue is 19.5 m (64 ft) high representing the Buddha seated in a meditation pose, or dhyana mudra, on a lotus in the open air. The total height of the construction is 80 feet (24 m) of which the Buddha makes up 64 feet (20 m), the lotus on which the Buddha sits 6 feet (1.8 m) and the lower pedestal 10 feet (3.0 m). The construction's width is nearly 60 feet (18 m) at its maximum. The statue was designed by V. Ganapati Sthapati and took seven years to complete using the labor of 12,000 stonemasons. It is constructed from a combination of sandstone and red granite blocks. A hollow spiral staircase inside the statue leads from the ground up to the chest. Shelves on the interior walls display 16,300 small bronze images of the Buddha. The Great Buddha statue is located in a garden at the end of Temple Street and is surrounded by smaller sculptures of Buddha's ten principal disciples, five on each side. The Great Buddha was possibly the largest Buddha statue in India at the time and was consecrated on 18 November 1989 by the 14th Dalai Lama. The foundation stone for the statue was laid in 1982.


Location of The Great Buddha, Bodh Gaya in Bihar, India


Artist

V. Ganapati Sthapati


Year

1982 (started)

18 November 1989 (inaugurated)


Type Statue


Medium

The mix of sandstone blocks and red granite.


Dimensions

19.507 m (64.00 ft) high /the height of the lotus 6 ft


Location

Bodh Gaya, India

24°41′0″N 85°2′0″E


Owner

Daijokyo Buddhist Temple

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