😇 THE GREAT BUDDHA📏
Tōdai-ji's (東大寺) Daibutsu (大仏) is the largest bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana (大日如来 'Dainichi Nyorai') in the world.
The "Great Buddha" weighs 550 tons and is 14.98m tall...the head alone is 5.33m wide, the ears 2.54m long, and the eyes 1.2m wide!😲
"The colossal statue of Vairocana of copper and gold, whose domed head towered up into the clouds...fused with the heat, so that its full moon features fell to the pavement below, while its body melted into a shapeless mass."
-Chapter 5 (1180), the "Heike Monogatari" (平家物語).
In 747 the casting of the Great Buddha (大仏) began in Nara after fire and earthquakes ruined the first attempt in Shigaraki.
It took 6 years in total (745-51) to complete the Daibutsu. Casting alone took 3 years and used all the available bronze, almost bankrupting the country.
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