Thursday, August 28, 2008

The Giant Buddha Temple

There are numerous Giant Buddha statue in China. The most memorable one is the LeShan Giant Buddha (乐 山大佛), which I witnessed in February 2006. Another one would be the Giant Buddha inside the Mogao Crottoes 莫高窟 /Thousand Buddha Caves. And the trip for the day is the largest reclining sculpture of the Nirvana Buddha in China, placed inside The Giant Buddha Temple (大佛寺) in Zhangye (张掖), Gansu Province (甘肃省), China.

Even the road is known as the Giant Buddha Temple Lane in Chinese language (or DaFoSi Xiang)

Peaceful street.. Any idea why they painted the bottom part of the tree trunk white?

Wall painting of the 八仙过海 (Eight immortals crossing the sea) opposite the temple :)
Entrance to The Giant Buddha Temple

Part of the temple is still under renovation, hence dusty. But the place is still open to visitors, with the condition "Enter at your own risk" ;)

I didn't take any photos inside the temple since photography is prohibited. But many still busily snapping away (as there are no guards watching), but I didn't snap any photo inside. The above picture is the photo of the Giant Buddha placed at the entrance. The whole Buddha is 34.5 meters in length, width of 7.5 meters between the shoulders, feet of 4 meters and ears of 2 meters. Huge leh... We are like midgets when standing next to it :)

(Photo courtesy of Gansu Tourism Site).
The above picture showed how huge is the reclining Buddha (in comparison with the person standing next to it). One interesting fact is that the reclining Buddha can be awake or sleeping when viewed from different location. When u look at the Giant Buddha straight at his face, he is fully awake with both eyes opened. When looking at the Buddha's face from the waist region, he is partially awake, opening one eye and closing the other. When viewed from the feet region, the Buddha is sleeping peacefully with both eyes closed. And one amusing thing is... the foot of the Buddha was broken and the foot region is now protected with glass panel to prevent visitors from rubbing the foot. Cos according to our tour guide, the Buddha feet was broken as too many rubbed the Buddha's feet in the past especially by students who are sititng for exam and not well prepared. (as the Chinese phrase 臨時抱佛腳). LOL


Part of the Temple.

I like to zoom in when taking photo, for a better view of the workmanship of the little sculptures on the roof top.
Can admire every fine and single details of the perfectly done craftwork, which are oftenly overlooked and neglected by many.

And *ahem*, not forgetting my obsession with doors and door knobs :)

One more... I promise it's the last one for the day :P

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks, doc on your informative reply on the 'i'. Here the price difference between 160gb ipod classic and 32gb ipod touch is not much.
We are wondering if the extra functions of ipod touch is worth the lack of memory.. See how lah.
We are waiting to check out the Acer Aspire mini laptop (abt rm1900) and have 120gb memory, plus other laptop capabilities. Maybe will get this instead. But not as cool as apple mah... :D

mistipurple said...

so rich the culture. i think if i go, i will open my mouth big big from start to finish because very impressed mah. :P

Anonymous said...

He he I love to take shots of roofs too...took tonnes when I went to Angkor. We people really know how to appreciate works of art huh? ;)

Wyn said...

so, dats wer the proverb came from,huh? hehe...

like the culture thingy so much...

and d art work is so nice....but no idea why they paint the tree wor..

jiejie got d answer d?

Anonymous said...

Very informative..
Between temples are beautiful and rich with culture

Doreen said...

They painted the bottom half of the trees white so that people can see at night time? Or may be for artistic purposes?

kyh said...

lol@misti. :P

nice wor... the one in penang is 33m long... so they can compete in lengths. :P

may said...

you can come and take pix of my door and doorknobs... ;-)

Happy Merdeka!

Unknown said...

Looks like some kind of Kung Fu learning center? :P

rainbow angeles said...

i hungry now :p

Chen said...

kat,
Well, depends on which suits u the most. iPod touch has it's own limitation and UMPC is more useful :)

misti,
Cannot open mouth big big for too long leh. Later fly or bee or butterfly whatever insect fly into your mouth then not good liao mah
Kekkekekkekkee

*cabut*

fibrate,
Great Minds Think Alike, hoh?
Yeah, must appreciate mah, or else wasted.. since they susah susah built it :D

Chen said...

wyn,
no lah, it's the other way round. The students follow that proverb blindly, hence they go & rub the Buddha's foot. LOL

keeyit,
Yeah, China is a country rich with culture and heritage :)

doreen,
i presume so too. That practise not only apply to the trees in that area but most of the places in China. I wanna ask my tour guide that question but subsequently i forgotten about it as time goes :)

Chen said...

kyh,
Can't remember how big is the reclining Buddha in Penang. Haven't visit that Thai & Burmist temple for long time liao, not to mention taking photo. Hehehhe, well.. we are not allowed to take photo inside the temple but can take from outside :)

may,
Kakkaka, and now u made me wanna take photo of my doors and door knobs. LOL

kenny,
Kekkee, those Shaolin temple? ;)

Angeles,
Wah.. u feel hungry after seeing the temple photos? Gip Angeles vegetarian food. Sek zhai :)

mistipurple said...

hahah i wondering what made angeles hungry too!

*closes mouth in front of kyh* :P

mistipurple said...

happy birthday chenliu!!!!!
just saw from the rainbowone's blog!!
may you have many great years of travel and see many countless door knobs and doors, kekekeke

Cocka Doodle said...

Happy burfday Lokter Chen!!!
*Hug tight tight*

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday, Happy Happy Birthday to you!! :D

Chen said...

Misti,
or.. might be she didn't have dinner kua that night, hence she felt hungwee and imagine things as food? :P

Thanks Misti Moo
*start counting door knobs*

Kkekkekke

Cocka,
Thanks Kokokai :)

CC,
Thanks CC :)

khengsiong said...

"One interesting fact is that the reclining Buddha can be awake or sleeping when viewed from different location."
But I can't see from this picture wor...

rainstorm said...

If not mistaken, the bottom of the trees were painted white is actually to prevent diesases from attacking the trees, similar to the one found in Ho Chi Minh City :)